Here and There

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

Tag: shortstop

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.

Shortstop: Sunrise RV Park – Kingman, AZ

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After a 300 mile drive across the Mojave desert – past the famous mothballed aircraft field, Edwards AFB, Boron (and Twenty Mule Team Road) – we arrived at Sunrise RV park in Kingman, AZ for a one night stay. Using our Passport America discount we paid $17.50 and were assigned one of the drive through sites. We have 50 amp, full hookups although the sewer is way at the back of the site and situated in such a way that it is almost uphill from the camper.

We have neighbors just a few feet away on either side of us and some kind of discount Marriott motel is looking down on us from across the street. Still, for an overnight this works just fine. The restrooms are clean, the roads are paved, the interstate is just a few minutes away, and the sites are pretty level. The campground offers free WiFi but I found it very slow and went back to my Verizon 4G. There are restaurants in walking distance. For an “in town” RV park that can be had for the price we’re paying it will do just fine.

Shortstop: Mountain Valley RV Park – Tehachapi, CA

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We don’t like doing one nighters but once in a while we need to move to what I call “repositioning mode” and it’s such a move that brings us to Tehachapi, CA; just east of and considerably higher in elevation than Bakersfield.

The town and campground are in a nice mountain valley. For us it is the reward for pulling 20+ miles up the mountain – climbing from 400 feet to 4000 feet. The campground is on the southern side of town and away from Highway 58 but right by the local airport. In fact, you can walk out to the runway from the campground. There are several gliders parked by the runway and it must be fun watching them fly.

This is a nice campground with level, pull through sites, 50 amp electric, and water. There are no sewer hookups, but there is a dump station. There is also a small laundry and clean restrooms with showers.

If you are traveling California 58 this is a good spot for a few days.

Shortstop: Shoreline RV Park – Eureka, CA

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2014 – Shoreline RV Park – Eureka, CA – our campsite

Our two day stay in Eureka, CA was just one of three stops we made to break up our repositioning move from the Oregon coast to the Sacramento area. Shoreline RV Park gets decent internet reviews and happens to be in the right place for us. The park has easy access from 101 – although entry is a bit strange. Highway 101 is split here, so if you are traveling south you have to pass the place, turn at a light, and then return to the park. However, the turn isn’t into the park, rather, it’s for a Circle K gas station or a Harley dealer. You drive between the two right into the park. Leaving and continuing north is easy enough, but it includes driving a different street to get back to a place where you can get back to the southbound side of 101.

The RV park is all paved and boasts very long but narrow pull through sites with narrow strips of grass between sites. The WiFi is good and the restrooms and laundry room are modern and clean. The sewer hookup is at the very back of the sites so you’ll need a longer hose to reach it. There’s no pool or any other amenities. We paid around $37 a night which makes this one of the more expensive stays we’ve had.

This RV park is no vacation destination, but if you need a spot in Eureka and are willing to pay the price this is a good place to stop.

Shortstop: Salmon Harbor Resort, Smith River, CA

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We’re in what I call “repositioning mode” as we do a series of short stays that will conclude with us in a different area and our return to our more standard travel mode. In this case we’re repositioning from the great coastal region of the northwest to northern California where we will spend a couple of months exploring various areas.

Our first shortstop on this repositioning move has been a couple of nights at Salmon Harbor Resort at Smith River, located in the northwestern corner of California. Clearly, the “resort” name is an overreach. The campground is probably 50% permanent residents and there are many mobile homes with various older RVs mixed in. The sites are narrow and packed in – our neighbor is so close that there’s not even room for us to put our awning out.

The draw here is that the Smith River pours into the Pacific right at the campground. Apparently, this is a great place for fishing – if “Resort” in the name doesn’t apply, “Salmon” does! We enjoyed the water very much, watching harbor seals, sea lions, and birds in abundance; all viewed just a few steps from our campsite.

The campground offers WiFi for a price. We opted to use our Verizon service which has an acceptable 3G connect. Cable TV is provided and there’s a laundry and some worn bathrooms. The staff is friendly and accommodating.

I’d say that the campground is a bit below average, but the location is very good.

Shortstop: Yakima River RV Park, Ellensburg, WA

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The drive north on I84 and I82 from west-central Oregon to south-central Washington was our most challenging and interesting yet. We drove through treeless mountains into pine covered mountains and soon found ourselves in the fertile Yakima valley with it’s vineyards and apple orchards. Along the way we drove up and over “Dead Man’s Pass” and then, after leaving the city of Yakima we drove up and over Manastash Ridge. Dead Man’s pass is rated as one of the toughest trucker drives in America with mile after mile of 6% downhill grades. Then, as we left Yakima we began a long steep climb followed by a steep descent, then “repeat” and then “repeat again.” The truck handled it fine, although we heard the whirlybird sound of the high speed cooling fan kick in on the uphills and worked the tow-haul mode on the transmission pretty hard coming down the steep grades.

We were happy to arrive at Yakima River RV park in Ellensburg, WA – exiting I82 right at the base of the final of the three big down hill’s between Yakima and Ellensburg.

This campground has a country feel with horses and cattle at pasture just the other side of the fence. If the campground was full you’d have some close neighbors, as the sites are set up so one camper is facing one direction and the next the other. You could potentially have “door to door” neighbors!

There’s no bathhouse or facilities of any kind but most of the sites are full hookups. The campground provides good WiFi and our cell signal is quite good too. We met the owner, a nice lady who had lots of advice about the area. Alas, this is the last of what will be three one-nighters in a row for us.

Tomorrow we head west on I90, up and over yet another mountain, and then skirt Seattle and head north just a short distance. We’ll be back in the Thousand Trails system and our short stays and longer drives will come to an end for several months to come. Our deluge of blog entries should slow down a bit as our pace slows.

Shortstop: Mountain View RV – Baker City, OR

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Our move from western Idaho into eastern Oregon was a fairly short one, just a little over 100 miles. Almost immediately after crossing the state line we started climbing and then, after a long pull, we traveled down some fairly steep grades (6%) into Burnt Canyon. The interstate then took us through some pretty and rather desolate country.

Soon, though, we arrived at Baker City, OR and Mountain View RV. Upon arrival one drives through a mobile home section of the property. Behind that is a nice RV park. The sites are mostly pull through and level. The restrooms are modern and clean, there’s a pool, spa, and a small store. We drove into Baker City and found it to be an interesting community. Jackie was especially pleased to find that the Dairy Queen has soft-serve chocolate ice cream – a real winner in her book. Our stop here is just one night but we could easily return for a longer stay someday.

Shortstop: Garrity RV Park, Nampa, ID

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We arrived in Nampa after 330 miles of driving ready to take a couple of nights to recover before doing another 300+ mile day. Garrity RV Park is Passport America and the rate is quite good. The park, itself is handy, just off of I84, right in town, and close to a huge Walmart and a nice shopping mall. I’ve just said all the good I have to say. The park is mainly filled with permanent residents and the average RV age is probably 15 years old. We spent the night, went for coffee with friends, and decided to abandon our prepaid second night. Frankly, had we not just driven a long day and had made plans to meet friends the next day we would have moved on in the first place.

Shortstop: Wasatch View Estates

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Our stop in North Ogden, UT was just a couple of nights. This is a mobile home park that has converted some of the spots into RV sites. The streets are wide and the sites are the size of a mobile home site – in other words, pretty big. The park itself is just minutes off of I15 and there are several fuel stops and fast food restaurants nearby. The restroom/shower is actually a manufactured home that is being used for this purpose – in other words, using the restroom or shower is like using one at someone’s house. There’s one especially nice feature – it’s the view to the east. I’ll include a photo of that view here – sorry to say our stay was brief and I didn’t get any other photos.If you need an overnight stop this one will do.

Shortstop: Sumner Lake State Park, NM

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We did a couple of 300+ mile days getting out of Texas. The reason we pushed so hard was that Lubbock and vicinity was supposed to have winds with gusts of 40 mph the next day. You really don’t want to tow a RV this big in winds like that. So we pushed hard and then settled in for a couple of nights at Lake Sumner State Park near Fort Sumner, NM.

Out here on the high plains a lake is an unusual and welcome sight. The park is about 6 miles east of highway 84. You travel over some hills and then, as you approach the park there are some twists and turns that take you up and over the dam and spillway to the entrance of the park. The route in had my attention but it was doable and I wouldn’t let it keep me from returning. Pecos Campground is the campground with water and 30 amp electric hookups. Just about every site has a view of the lake. There’s good Verizon cell service in the park, yielding a good 4G data flow.

So, we’ve had a couple of days at a very quiet state park. A small but intense thunderstorm got our attention for awhile last night, but we didn’t even get any rain from it as it brushed just past us to the north. Also, the wind has made itself known (but at least it’s not up in the 40’s). Tomorrow we head for Albuquerque.