Here and There

Scott and Jackie's Travels – Thousand Trails Reviews, Campground Reviews, Fulltime RVing, European Travel

Tag: National Park

2017 – Shortstop: Davis Bayou Campground at Gulf Islands National Seashore

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If you’re looking for a stop along the short Mississippi portion of I10 you might want to check out Davis Bayou Campground in the Gulf Islands National Seashore. It’s a 15 minute or so drive south of the interstate at Ocean Springs, MS. The sites in the campground are water/electric only with good roads and paved sites. We received a friendly welcome and, when we needed to change sites, the ranger helped us out, putting us in a more suitable site. You may want to know, though, or reason for moving: several of the sites on the parameter (but not all) on the main loop have a considerable slope front to rear. It was highly unlikely that we would have gotten the 5th wheel level in our original site, even with the landing gear as short as possible. I doubt that even a small motorhome in that site would have any chance of getting level front to back. Of course, small campers (popups, Casitas, etc.) would have done fine there. We were allowed to move to one of the two “emergency sites” that are kept vacant for use when necessary. The campground, itself, is clean and pretty and the park beyond the campground boasts a beautiful Welcome Center and lots of nicely developed hiking trails. We had some issues with biting gnats (no-see-ums) which are a bit of a nuisance. The price for this campground is excellent, especially with our senior America the Beautiful Pass: we paid just $11 a night. All in all, we think this is a good stop along I10 especially if you are good with water/electric only and can avoid the problem sites.

Sightseeing Review: Mammoth Cave, Kentucky

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We had a fun time revisiting Kentucky’s Mammoth Cave. Many years ago we took the long tour. I remember enjoying the many rooms, colors, drapes and other formations. I also remembered the long walk back out up the many stairs. This time we took the Domes and Dripstones tour, the moderate tour and “only” had about 500 stairs to hike. Still, it was fun going down the steep winding, narrow and sometimes very low passages. We saw domes, pits, and dripstones along with stalagmites and stalactites and drapes. Our guides were very good and even took time to show us a patch of crickets that live in the cave. It was so good to see that God made the inside of the earth is beautiful as he made the outside.

Sightseeing Review: The Central Upper Peninsula of Michigan

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The highlight of our stay in the central Upper Peninsula of Michigan was time spent at Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore on Lake Superior at Munising. This is a beautiful area overseen by the National Park service. We spent part of one day in the town of Munising, MI, where we visited a waterfall, the beach, and a maritime museum. The self-righting Coast Guard boat there was interesting. The view from the beach was lovely. There is a lot of driftwood up and down the beaches. It would be a nice place to picnic and relax, however it was cool and very windy on the day we visited. We came back another day to hike a little and take the Pictured Rocks boat tour. We enjoyed our hike to Miners Falls and a shorter hike to the Miners Castle overlook. From there we picked up our tickets for the two hour cruise.

We enjoyed the cruise very much. We saw the lighthouse on Grand Isle, many beaches, and rock formations including an arch and a cave with water dripping into the lake. The Pictured Rocks and Spray Falls were the highlight of the tour. We hope to come to this area again and spend more time hiking and looking around.
We also spent time on Lake Michigan at Manistique, MI. We took a scenic walk on a boardwalk and out to the East Breakwater Lighthouse. We enjoyed this nice walk on a sunny day with the sound of the waves all around. Manistique has lots of small shops here and plenty of restaurants and sandwich shops.

2014 Adventure Wrap-Up

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We’ve now wrapped up our 2014 Adventure. Our destination was the great northwestern United States with a focus on the Pacific coast. It was a wonderful trip – really, everything we hoped it would be. Early in our journey we found southeastern Utah to be a pleasant surprise. We’ve heard so much about the vicinity of Moab; especially Arches and Canyonlands National Parks. These were even better than we expected and some of the most beautiful spots we’ve ever been.

We spent a couple of months visiting different places along the Washington coast and then another month along the Oregon coast. We loved it all and I especially enjoyed the splendor of the Oregon coast. If a person loves nature they will love that area.

We continued into northern California and soon moved inland to the Sacramento area and points east and south. After wearing jackets and even needing heat in the camper the warm temperatures were a shock to the system. Still, camping along the whitewater of the American River and then staying in the high country of Yosemite was a real pleasure.
It was with some sadness that we turned east and headed for Arizona because that meant we were now winding down our big Adventure.  Still, we’re talking about Arizona here; long one of our favorite states.  We spent a month there, working our way from the northwest corner of the state to ultimately exit at the southeast corner.

Before long we were back in Texas – enjoying the splendor of the state’s southwest.  We’ve always liked the Texas State Parks and it was a pleasure to visit three of them, especially Davis Mountains State Park, as we worked our way east.

After almost seven months we’ve now arrived back where the Adventure began: Lake Conroe Thousand Trails. We towed the 5th wheel about 6300 miles and then drove about the same distance sightseeing and “just living.”  We stayed in about 40 different campgrounds, generally for a week and a half at a time with several shorter stays when we were in “repositioning mode.”  In January I’ll release our budget figures but we pretty much stayed on target through the year.

It was a great trip and I’m already looking forward to return visits to and through these areas.

Sightseeing Review: Fort Davis, TX and area

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The town of Fort Davis is full of historic buildings and is lovely to walk through. There are several shops, a library with free internet, and an old fashioned drug store with a soda fountain where they dip ice cream and make shakes. There is also a small grocery store if you need to pick up food stuffs. I think that this is an excellent example of a historic Texas town.

McDonald Observatory was a fun tour even though the sky was overcast and sprinkling rain during our visit. We chose to go to the daytime program on the sun and guided tour of some of the facilities. At the visitors’ center there is a gift shop, small cafeteria and an exhibit area. We learned a lot about the sun and its effect on earth even though the rainy, foggy weather kept us from actually using the telescopes. Our tour included a visit to the Harlan J. Smith telescope. At night this big telescope is in use, but during the day tour groups are given an up close look at it. We also saw the even bigger Otto Struve telescope. It has an “open design” and doesn’t look like a telescope at all! I am amazed at the technology involved and how deep into space these world class telescopes can see.

We also enjoyed a drive up the Davis Mountains State Park’s Skyline Drive. The view from the scenic overlook is wonderful and well worth the drive.

A day at Grand Canyon, AZ

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Our last visit to the Grand Canyon was in 1985 and our return for a day’s visit there reminded us of just what a amazing place it is. We took many pictures but we know they can’t begin to show the depth and color we enjoyed. In addition to the canyon views we saw three condors soaring above us at one overlook. We also saw elk wandering around the park which was an added plus. There are free shuttles and everything from walking trails to major league, challenging hikes to the canyon floor allowing people at all levels of fitness and time the opportunity to enjoy the park. This trip should be on everyone’s bucket list.

Shortstop: Canyon Gateway RV Park – Williams, AZ

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This RV Park is a couple of minutes from I40; a good spot for those traveling and in need of a place to land for the night. It’s also about 60 miles south of the Grand Canyon. Both the I40 and the Grand Canyon proximity made Canyon Gateway RV Park in Williams, AZ a good shortstop for us. Admittedly, there’s some traffic noise off the Interstate but we didn’t find it to be especially objectionable. They are building a truck stop adjacent to the campground, so in the future being sandwiched between the highway less than a mile away on one side and the truck stop on the other noise may become an issue.

Still, I see this as a good spot for a short stay. The sites are level with full hookups. The restrooms and showers were very clean and the campground offers decent WiFi and even a few channels of cable TV. In addition to the mega attraction of the Grand Canyon being an hour away, downtown Williams is a fun place to visit. After a stroll up and down the main street we especially enjoyed our meal at the Pine Country Restaurant and recommend it. Williams also is where the Grand Canyon Railroad begins. This RV Park doesn’t pretend to be a destination, but it works well for travelers as well as folks who want to spend a day at one of our nation’s most visited, and beautiful, national parks.

Pinnacles National Park and Monterey Peninsula

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Our visit to the newest U.S. National Park, Pinnacles NP, was a fun adventure.  The park is located about 20 miles south of our campground and around 40 miles south of Hollister, CA. There are actually two sections to the park and we visited via the eastern entrance.  The western entrance is quite a bit farther from us and the two sections of Pinnacles aren’t connected by road.  After seeing the visitor center we drove on to where the road ends and began a 20 minute hike to Bear Gulch Cave from there. This is a talus cave which means it was created by boulders and rocks falling and choking the narrow canyons creating ceilings, passages, and rooms (http://www.sfnps.org/talus_caves). The trail to the cave is fairly easy in spite of there being a few narrow passages and moderate inclines. We were only able to go into the lower half of the cave.  The cave is home to Townsends Big-Eared Bats, a protected species in the State of California.  This time of the year there are still bats in the upper portion of the cave so the public is kept out of that area.  We did see two bats on the ceiling in the public area of the cave.  There are many hiking opportunities in this national park, several appear to be rather challenging.  The short hike we took, though, is only considered to be “moderate” and, really, most any reasonably able person should be able to do it.

Our other sightseeing adventure was a day trip to the Monterey Peninsula.  The area is only 25 miles or so directly west of our campground.  However, because of the mountains it is actually a 60 mile drive on some rather busy highways.  We started our tour at the Museum of Monterey. The admission is free for the month of September. The first floor is filled with works by local artists. I especially liked the stained glass pieces of art. The second floor has historic memorabilia from the early Native Americans and other early settlers and immigrants. The Maritime historic memorabilia is quite impressive. There’s a captain’s quarters, items used on the sailing ships, and a variety of scrimshaw that is interesting.  Nearby is Old Fisherman’s Wharf with several restaurants, whale tours, and shops. Of most interest to us were the many sea lions that are resting on the supports of the wharf and also swimming below us.

After having lunch we took a leisurely drive along Ocean View Blvd. stopping at several public access places along the way to watch the ships, wildlife, and the waves. The views are amazing and there are many places to stop and soak it all in.  We saw more sea lions, a few dolphin, and a wide variety of birds.  At Asilomar State Beach we took a stroll down to look at the tide pools.

This was our last visit to the Pacific Ocean on this trip before turning east and beginning our slow journey back to Texas.

2014 – A day in San Francisco, CA

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We’ve been looking forward to seeing San Francisco and it lived up to its billing. As much fun as being there was using the excellent bay area public transportation systems for the entire trip. After driving through morning traffic to San Jose we paid $5.00 to park in the SAP center then walk the short distance to the Caltrain station where we paid the $18 senior San Francisco round trip fee. We rode in a nice commuter very full of people and families, hearing lots of chatter going on around us. I noticed that the seats with tables are very popular and then realized those seats have electric plug-ins available, very nice for those using electronics. Although we stopped at every town along the way I enjoyed the view; seeing the homes, businesses, and some lovely train depots that have been there for many years. Upon arriving we bought day passes on the San Francisco MUNI.

We took the street cars from the Caltrain station to Fisherman’s Wharf. There are many restaurants, shops, and street performers. We walked along the boardwalk and looked over the bay. We could see nearby Alcatraz, ships and boats of every kind, and The Golden Gate Bridge in the distance. It’s an awesome place! Pier 43 is the National Liberty ship Memorial. We walked past saw the USS Pampanito, a WW II fleet submarine, and the SS Jeremiah O’Brian which is one of the last remaining WWII Liberty Ships.

We toured the National Park Service’s San Francisco Maritime National Historic Park Museum. It has lots of memorabilia from historic San Francisco dating from the early Native American inhabitants up through the 1800s. There are several dioramas, films, and audio stories of the early settlers. Hyde street pier, which is part of the park, contains Historic Ferries and vessels including a square rigger sailing ship. Walking toward Ghirardelli Square we saw the Aquatic Park Historic Landmark District where people were sunning on the beach and swimming in the bay.

Although they no longer make the chocolate here nearby Ghirardelli Square has a variety of shops and restaurants along with several Ghirardelli Chocolate shops. The Ghirardelli shops sell their chocolate as well as dipped ice cream and coffee to drink now and buy for later.

GWe headed back to the Powell-Hyde cable car where we waited between 15-30 minutes to get on. We were lucky enough to be allowed to stand on the back with the driver and see the view as we went up. It’s an amazing ride that I would do again. We got off at Union Square where you can find Macy’s and similar shops and then caught a bus and rode through China Town where we walked a little and got some lunch. It’s an interesting area with open front stores selling a variety of Asian foods as well as items for tourists.

fter another short bus ride we walked up an extremely steep hill to the bottom of the very crooked and steep Lombard Street, nicknamed the “Crookedest Street in the World” and spent a few minutes watching cars turn and twist their way down.

We then took a couple of buses to get to the Golden Gate Bridge. The weather was considerably cooler there with wind and a foggy mist coming in. The bridge is an amazing structure and you can read about the history and construction in park right beside it. I was very pleased to know that the Golden Gate Park is under the care of National Park Service with rangers ready to help you with information about the park. From there we began our trip clear across town back to the Caltrain station, taking the bus and then a streetcar/subway. It was supper time and we stopped to eat. Once we got back to the train station we saw that there is a Panera Bread restaurant right beside the Caltrain and wished we had waited and gotten sandwiches to eat on the train. The train we caught was an evening train which was about full but emptied out as we continued the hour and a half to San Jose.

All in all it was a very enjoyable and tiring day. Some may prefer doing the more costly on/off bus tours around the city, especially for a one day visit. Really, with so much to see, a person could spend several days in San Francisco and not see it all.

Campground review: Yosemite Lakes Thousand Trails, Groveland, CA

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We think there’s a lot to like about Yosemite Lakes Thousand Trails, located 18 miles east of Groveland, CA and about five miles west of the Highway 120 entrance to Yosemite National Park.

This is a big campground with over 200 full hookup sites plus a large dedicated tenting area, several cabins, and two “Yurt” villages. There’s a nice playground, horseshoe pits, shuffleboard, volleyball and basketball courts, and mini golf. Our stay included Labor Day weekend and most of those features got plenty of action. Our Labor Day stay also included a concert by a talented country-bluegrass band that we enjoyed very much.

After Labor Day things slowed down dramatically and we enjoyed quiet days and pretty star-lit nights. The campground is located in a valley and a stream runs through the campground. This is a dry time of the year and there’s a serious drought so the stream wasn’t very impressive but I imagine it’s a lot nicer in the springtime.

One thing we like about this particular Thousand Trails is the common sense layout. There’s an area set aside for seasonal residents and near it an area for “retail” non-member RVers. The Yurt villages and tent area (of course members can pitch their tents in any available RV site if they want) also have their own areas. I wish other Thousand Trails would adopt this common-sense approach.

The sites along the stream are the most popular. They are shaded and several are 50 amps. We thought they were over-rated because the stream was nothing to get excited about, the sites stay full and are close together, and they were difficult if not impossible for those wanting satellite TV. There are also two “field” sections of the campground. They are pull through sites but exposed to the full sun. We opted to stay in the section close to the horseshoe pits. We had nice afternoon shade, good satellite TV, no nearby neighbors, and (a real bonus for us) using our WiFi Ranger we could reach the park’s WiFi from our camper.

Usually we use our 4G hotspot for the internet but that’s a complete no-go at this campground.  Using our Wilson Sleek cradle I could get 1 or 2 bars of unreliable 3G – really not enough to even have a decent phone conversation.  That left us dependent on the park’s WiFi.  By staying in the section of the campground closer to the Activity Center we had slow, but somewhat useable internet.    Also, to our surprise, when I went to plug in the electric we had 50 amps – something not even listed on the campground map.

We were disappointed and surprised at how far it really is to Yosemite valley.  Even though a National Park entrance is only five miles from the campground it’s actually about 30 miles down to the valley – and those miles are twisting, turning, and sometimes steep miles.  Here’s a tip: the YARTS bus stops right at the campground and will take you to Yosemite valley.  The cost for the two of us was actually about what we would have spent on fuel driving in and out.  I suggest you drive in and see the more distant sites and then ride the bus for future visits to the valley.  They offer senior adult discounts and even have a three trips for the price of two special.  Also, there’s no park admission fee for those on the bus!

No review of Yosemite Lakes Thousand Trails is complete without mention of Highway 120’s New Priest Grade.  This 7-8 miles of road is a non-stop 5-6%, switchback filled challenge that must be faced to come to the campground.   The uphill side is also the side with the dropoffs.  It will test the vehicle’s engine and the driver’s nerves.  The downhill side hugs the side of the hill and it will test the vehicle’s transmission and brakes and the driver’s skills.  There are two other nearby roads.  One is the shorter and much steeper (15%) Old Priest – no one with a RV has any business on it and law enforcement agrees – RVs are banned from driving it.  There’s another route that includes Greely Hill road.  We checked it out and I decided it was better to just stay with New Priest.  Here’s my take on it: if you are driving a RV that you know is underpowered or overweight or especially long you should think twice before tackling this section of road.  However, most people with a properly set up RV and moderate driving experience can drive it.  Hundreds of RVs, tour buses, and logging trucks do it every week.  The YARTS bus drivers told me that their top of the hill speed target is 25 mph which they gear to hold down the grade.  They also suggested that one keep an eye on oncoming traffic, making room for bigger vehicles, especially those coming downhill.  On one had, this drive should be taken seriously.  On the other hand, a lot of people do it with no problems whatsoever.  We came up the grade about 25 mph and the engine was working hard.  Our clutch fan came on early and stayed on all the way up and a ways beyond.  We came down at 20-25 mph.  I had to tap my brakes on some of the hairpins.  Really, I thought coming down was easier than coming up.

The reward is a nice campground near a beautiful National Park.