Where We Are Now

We landed this afternoon at Ely KOA Journey, pretty much right in the middle of Nevada, elevation, 6500 ft. This is just a stop-over for a night, but it really is a nice campground. We plan to drive around this after and check out the town.

   Ely KOA our site

Where We Are on the Map

Where to Next

From here we're heading north to Idaho. Our first stop is a place called Anderson Camp. We plan to spend a couple of days there so we can check out Shoshone Falls and what's left of Twin Falls

 Anderson Camp Stock Photo

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Friday, 01 November 2024

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Arizona

Arizona (6)

Tuesday, 21 May 2019 04:42

Yumas Lakes RV Resort

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Yuma Lake RV Resort

     Yuma Lakes is a private RV campground owned by Colorado River Adventures.  It is also a Coast to Coast campground and typically we are the mercy of the campground to chose our site.  On arriving we asked at the gate to be near friends who were already in the campground and it wasn’t a problem.  The campground had the same feel as Emerald Cove but without so many boats and ATVs.  Most of the campground is gravel with some asphalt streets that have no defined edges.  With the exception of the sites that are leased, all the camping sites are 30 amps.  Like most campgrounds, people are friendly and easy to meet.  The campground puts on many activities from breakfasts to dancing.  From what we were told, Internet is available, but far from good.  Our AT&T Internet worked well and we were able to stream most of the time.  Pedestrian access in and out of the campground available so it was easy to walk the dogs outside of the campground versus using the single dog walk on the far side of the park from where we camped.  Overall, we liked the campground, it has plenty of shade for the Yuma sun.  I think that the biggest drawback that I had to the park was that it is a ten plus mile drive to get to anywhere. 

 

Coast to Coast burned

Type: Deluxe

Good Sam Rating: 7.5/8.5*/7.5

Address: 
6275 South Ave 8 1/2 East
Yuma, AZ 85365


Phone: (760) 663-4968

Fax: (760) 663-4945

Reservations Phone: (760) 663-4968

Reservations Fax: (619) 663-4945

Resort Information: In the southwest corner of Arizona, located just 6 miles from Yuma. On a refreshing lake offering canoeing, row boating and fishing as a contrast to the desert beauty of the area. Yuma offers shopping and dining. San Luis and Rio Colorado in Mexico are a short drive away for additional touring opportunities.

Web Site:coloradoriveradventures.com

EMail:This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Full Sites: 180

Check-In/Check-Out Times: 9 a.m.- 6 p.m./ 11:00 a.m.

RV Site Minimum Stay: 1 night

Peak: Dec 1 to Apr 1
Open: Sep 15 to May 14

Maximum Electrical Service: 30 amps.

WiFi Available: Yes

Maximum RV Length: 40 feet

Elevation: 0

Amenities: Recreation hall, outdoor pool, hot tub, dock fishing available, boating available, hiking trails, horseshoes, shuffleboard, canoeing nearby, row boating nearby, fishing nearby, shopping nearby, restaurants nearby, tourist attraction nearby. Internet and Wi-Fi access in clubhouse only.

RV Notes: Drive-ups not accepted.

Accepts Pets: Yes

Visitor Mail Accepted: No

Tuesday, 21 May 2019 04:21

Verde Valley RV Park

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Verde Valley RV Park, Cottonwood, Arizona 

       After planning the first month we decided to join 1000 trails.  We had planned a longer stay at Trinidad Lake, but I wanted to fit Verde Valley into pit trip, and so we cut some days out of our plan and put six days into staying at Verde Valley.  I’m glad that I did.  Since it was in Arizona, we figured we needed 50amps, so we called ahead and reserved a 50amp site.  Unfortunately, there wasn’t going to be a 50amp site available our whole stay so we knew that we would have to move after a few days.  I now understand that about 30% of the campground is people who lived there full time and when we asked for a 50amp service it put us in more of a residential part of the park and less of a camping part.  After our first night of looking at someone’s shed out our window, we asked to move to a different section.   The staff was more than happy to help and we moved into a 30amp site close to the pool.  This site was great with green grass, shade, and a picnic table right out our door.  The next day, we got neighbors right next door, Tom & Paula, and their dog Logan.  They turned out to be great people and added to our enjoyment of the campground.        

 

      From the campground, we found several nearby things to check out.  First, we checked-out Cottonwood.  It had an older section of town with shops and restaurants.   After that, we headed up to the town of Jerome, a supposed ghost town built on the side of a hill.  It is an old mining town with an interesting history and now mostly a tourist stop with more shops and restaurants.  Just outside of town is an old junkyard of cars and trucks which have also been marked as a ghost town.  Unless you are really interested in rusted old cars, trucks, buses, tractors… save your five dollars and avoid this place.  We also visited Sedona.  I would recommend coming into town from the east through Oak Springs Village on 179.  The red landscape of rocks, mesas, desert trees, and plants looked like a scene from a Roadrunner cartoon or as my daughter put it, “where Cars was filmed” The area is a must see.  We had the time to explore the town and return for an early morning hike around Bell and Courthouse Rocks.  On another outing, we visited Montezuma’s Palace.  It’s another interesting part of history that I wasn’t familiar with.

     Almost a year and a half later, we visited the campground again.  It was obvious that they had been putting a lot of work into the park.  Roads have been widened and a great deal of electrical improvements have been made.  The new electric pedestals have been wired for both 30 and 50 amps, but a lot of the 50 amp outlets haven't been connected until the park installs new transformers.   Also, since we were here last we have taken up pickleball and we were able to get in a couple of games almost every morning before it got too hot.  Our site was similar to our last site, only we had the 50 amps.  There is an extra $5 per night for a 50 amp site, but seeing the electrical improvements made to the park, it is well worth it.  We're looking forward to our next visit here.   

Naturally Beautiful RV Campground in Arizona
Arizona is known for its expansive desert and mountain backdrops. At Verde Valley RV Camping, you’ll enjoy the best of everything Arizona has to offer. Situated on the scenic Verde River, Verde Valley RV Camping offers 300 acres of picturesque beauty. Explore the majestic Red Rocks to the north, Mingus Mountains to the west and the Hackberry Mountains to the south. With a moderate year-round climate, this RV campground in Arizona is an ideal location for your next retreat.

Rich in geological and cultural history, the area surrounding Verde Valley RV Camping offers hours of exploration and sightseeing. Kayak down the Verde River, explore the famous ghost town of Jerome, take a drive through scenic Sedona, or sample wines at local wineries. The possibilities are endless when you spend your next vacation at Verde Valley RV Camping!

Monday, 20 May 2019 22:42

Ridgeview Resort

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Ridgeview Resort, Bullhead City, Arizona

     Our visit to Ridgeview was great.  The campground is very well maintained and improvements are evident.  We visited in the offseason as the park was fairly empty.  When we arrived the park set us up with a nice site, which offered evening shade, which is always a plus when the temperature is above 100 most of the day.  The sites are a mixture of sand and gravel and the roads are all paved.  To look around at the surrounding desert, you have to appreciate the amount of work that had to go into the campground to make it the resort that it is.  The facilities are very nice, especially the pool and spa.  

     The resort sits on a hill overlooking the Colorado River with Laughlin, Nevada just on the other side.  While at the campground we visited the casinos a couple of times but didn't do well.  We also took a 45-minute drive up to Oatman, an old mining town where wild burros roam the streets.  The old path of Route 66 runs through the town and it has become a fun tourist destination.  

 

  Sunrise Adventures Ridgeview Resort is located less than a mile from the captivating Colorado River in Bullhead City, Arizona and is directly across the border from Laughlin, Nevada, where ten casinos offer 24-hour gaming, restaurants, and exciting entertainment and much more. The resort is located less than two hours from Las 

 

     Winter, spring, summer or fall – the Bullhead City/Laughlin area is the area of all seasons. The area is known for 360 days of sunshine a year that allows numerous outdoor recreation activities year-round, which makes Ridgeview RV Resort one of the premier RV destinations in the country!  Vegas, and one hour from the famous London Bridge in Lake Havasu City. The Resort offers countless amenities like a large Clubhouse where various family and fun activities are held, a swimming pool and jacuzzi to relax after a long day. There’s Shuffleboard, Hiking Trails, Vacation Rentals and much more!

     In addition to the Colorado River, you also have the opportunity to play on the pristine waters of Lake Mohave that is located minutes north of the Resort. With the abundance of water play space on the Colorado River and Lake Mohave, there is a wide variety of activities available near Ridgeview RV Resort.

     Bullhead City and Laughlin both offer some of the best Shopping in the area with Malls and various stores located minutes from the Resort. If golf is a highlight of your Ridgeview Resort vacation, then we have you covered at one of the many golf courses the Bullhead City/Laughlin area has to offer. With year-round sunshine and several courses conveniently located minutes from the resort, Ridgeview RV Resort is an ideal place to tee up for the perfect RV golf getaway.

 

Monday, 20 May 2019 21:46

Mesa Spirit RV Resort

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Mesa Spirit RV Resort

      Mesa Spirit is our second 55+ Encore park in the “Trails Collection”.  The park is located in the city of Mesa, but Mesa is laid-out so that it was easy to get in and out of the park.  Once in the park, you are escorted to your site and the escort actually helps you back into your site.  The park is a mixture of annual people and short-term RVers.  The layout of the park is a maze of streets, making it difficult to drive through.  Most sites a back-in on gravel with a concrete pad to use as a patio.  All the sites are full hookups with 30/50 amps available.  The resort picks your site, so you get what you get.  Our site was on the outside edge of the park, so we got quite a bit of street noise from the major street outside of the park.  There is a solid six-foot-high wall all around the park and that helped with the traffic noise.  The park is large enough that probably 90% of the sites didn’t have any traffic noise.  All the streets are paved.  We walked around and checked out the park’s amenities.  We found four new pickleball courts, a tennis court, that also converted into two more pickleball courts.  There are two of the nicest bocce ball courts that I’ve ever seen, a dozen plus horseshoe pits and even more shuffleboard courts.  There is also the nicest miniature golf course that we’ve seen in any park.  There are three good size pools and four very large hot tubs.  There are three main buildings that offer everything from a pool hall to a fully equipped fitness center.  There is also a sewing room, a wood shop, classes on how to make stain glass windows, and much more.  There is enough going on at the resort every day to keep most busy and active.  Also, important for us, there are several fenced dog parks.  
     As with most resorts like this, people go out of their way to say hi.  Overall, I was very impressed with the resort.  But it is a resort and not a campground, there are no picnic tables or fire pits.  Just lots of friendly old people with golf carts.  It is definitely a park that we will return to.  Outside the park, there is everything a big city has to offer.  There’s a Camping World within a mile and a Safeway just outside the park.  The layout of the city makes it easy to find a get to anything you may need.  We also visited a couple of nearby tourist traps, but they were still fun.  
 
Catch the Spirit at Mesa Spirit RV Resort!
Discover Arizona with Mesa Spirit RV Resort...the hub of Arizona's activities and attractions including golfing, fishing, spring training, sporting events, shopping, spas, dining, casinos, the Grand Canyon, and so much more...not to mention the beautiful Arizona winter weather!
Located in Mesa, Arizona, just west of the beautiful Superstition Mountains, Mesa Spirit RV Resort is a pet-friendly, adult community featuring 1,800 spaces with full hook-ups, even big rigs are welcome! Mesa Spirit is ideally located near all of the Central Arizona attractions, entertainment and sporting events - including Spring Training facilities. No RV? No Problem! See our list of the latest Park Models available for Sale and Rent. Or visit our on-site Sales and Rental Office.
This hidden gem in the desert, Mesa Spirit offers extensive activities and special events programs during the winter season. Events and programs are staffed and run by our many wonderful resident volunteers with the assistance and support of the Activity Team. With the wide variety of seasonal activities, you will find lots of fun and exciting things to do while at Mesa Spirit. There is something for everyone...Catch the Spirit!
 
Monday, 20 May 2019 19:56

Grand Canyon Trailer Village

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Grand Canyon Trailer Village RV Park

    Trailer Village RV Park, what can I say.  The best thing about the RV park is its location, right in the middle of the West Grand Canyon Rim National Park.  The RV park and the National Park are better described separately.  The RV park has over 100 pull-through sites of varying length and facilities.  We did manage to reserve a site long enough for our coach, but we had to cheat and park the dinghy off the driveway and in the camping site.  Actually, most of the sites had about ten feet before the next site began and it sort of felt like a parking lot, although there were trees.  The biggest issue I had, (and I’m sorry to admit this) is that there was no cell or Internet service.  At least not via AT&T.  However, we did find plenty to do without the internet.  But at the end of the day, it would have been nice to send pictures back to friends and family.  (with 5 million people visiting the Grand Canyon every year, you might think that the Internet would be a no-brainer) But like I said, the park’s greatest asset is its location.   From there, we could walk to the rim and follow it to the west to the end of the “tourist area” and take the free shuttle back to the campground.  On the second day, we walked the east end of the rim trail from the campground.  If you have a couple of days to spend in the park I would very much recommend this RV Park for its convenience.

     The one thing I can’t express enough about the Grand Canyon is its overwhelming awe power.  When we saw the canyon for the first time, it was truly intense.  The size and the beauty that just can’t be caught in a picture.  This is a place that everyone should put on their bucket lists.  We couldn’t get enough of it and fortunately the rim trail is several miles long.  Long enough to get out of the public from time to time and just enjoy its beauty for ourselves.  Not only is its beauty a great part of its attraction but the history of the canyon itself is very interesting as well.  We also took our car along the rim to the east twenty-five miles to Desert View Watch Tower.  Along the way we found several spots to stop and take photos of the canyon.  Unfortunately, we got there too late in the evening for things to be open, but just in time for the sunset.   The park is well maintained, most trails are paved and except for the east end of the rim trail, bicycles are not allowed.  The one thing I did notice about the tourists in the park is that they were more than willing to step off the trail and hang out over the canyon for the perfect photo shot.  It was pretty scary to watch at times.  The other thing about the park is that they don’t sell bottled water.  You have to buy their twenty-dollar souvenir water bottles and fill them with spring water from several different locations throughout the park.  However, they are not working until summer, so while there, in late May we were hard-pressed to find drinking water short of going back to the campground.  Overall, we loved the park and plan on returning often.  I would recommend buying $80 one year National Park pass that’s good for four people.  It’s $30 to enter the park each visit.

GRAND CANYON RV'ING AT ITS FINEST

This is the trip your RV was made to go on. Trailer Village® RV Park is the only in-park RV park with full hookups and it's incredibly close to the Grand Canyon's South Rim. Set within a high desert landscape, the Trailer Village RV Park is a paved pull-through site perfect for vehicles up to 50 feet long. Best of all, it's open year-round.

FULL RV HOOKUPS INSIDE THE GRAND CANYON

Important information:

  • Check-in time: 12 p.m.
  • Check-out time: 12 p.m.
  • Quiet hours: 10 p.m. - 8 a.m.
  • Charcoal fires only. No wood fires allowed.
  • Pets must be kept on a leash at all times. Please clean up after them.
  • Due to water shortages, washing your vehicle is prohibited.
  • All trash must be placed in dumpsters.
  • Satellite users: The Grand Canyon's ZIP code is 86023

Hours of Operation (Registration Kiosk)

Jan. 1 to March 25 = 8 a.m. - 5 p.m.
March 26 to Oct. 21 = 7 a.m. - 9 pm.
Oct. 22 to Dec. 31 = 8 a.m. - 5 p.m.

For guests arriving after the Registration Kiosk has closed for the day:

  • If you have a guaranteed reservation, a notice will be posted on the welcome building door with your last name, reservation number, and the site number you are assigned to.
  • If you do NOT have a reservation, there will be a sign posted at the welcome building with available sites listed (if any).
Monday, 20 May 2019 15:19

Cactus Gardens RV Resort

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Cactus Gardens RV Resort

     Cactus Gardens is an Encore RV park and our first “Trails Collection” resort. It is also our first 55+ resort. The first thing we noticed and liked about the park was that the roads were paved and all the RV’s and park-models were all neatly lined-up. The park rates run around $300 a week, but with the Trails Collection added to our Thousand Trails membership, the park was free and we stayed for two weeks.
The RV sites are very tight, but they all have full hookups with 50 amps including cable. It’s a really great community with lots of things going on from water-volleyball to cards, to dancing, breakfasts, lunches, dinner, darts, shuffleboard, horseshoes, and many others. They are lacking pickleball courts though. We walked the park and their sister park next door (Desert Paradise) every day, meeting people at every turn. Both parks are Encore parks and are very similar. We floated back and forth between them daily. We met one couple using their Trails Collection membership to jump between the two parks every four days so that they would never have a timeout week. One two sides of the park were alleys not being used by cars but by dog walkers. With both sides having concrete walls they were designed for water run-off. They are wide and long so that dogs could get off leash and run. Overall, we loved the park and the people made us feel very welcome. We are looking forward to returning there in the future.
     While in Yuma, we took advantage of the inexpensive dental work in Los Algodones. The campground had a 5% off coupon for Baja Dental. We called around and found that their prices were better than most so we decided to use them for a cleaning and possibly a bridge for me. The office was very clean and modern. The staff was very professional and the doctors seemed to very experienced. I was sold and decided to have the bridge work done there. They went from cleaning mode to x-ray mode, to prepping the side two teeth for the bridge without the doctor every leaving my side. In very short time I was out of there with two new temporary caps and an appointment to return in a couple of days for a bridge. On the second trip, the bridge was fit and refit and polished so that my bite was perfect. That took less than twenty minutes in the chair. I have had the bridge for a week now and can’t tell that it’s not my real teeth. All my fears of going to Mexico to have dental work done are gone. The cost of everything was just over $600, about ¼ of what my dentist in Portland quoted me after insurance. Plus the process would have required two or three visits to Portland and over a month’s time to get all the work done.

A fun Yuma RV resort near the mighty Colorado River

     With over 300 days of sunshine in Yuma, Arizona, Cactus Gardens RV Resort is a perfect destination for a trip away from it all. Enjoy 14 acres and 428 sites at this Yuma RV Resort. Fishing and boating on the nearby Colorado River and Imperial Dam are popular activities for residents and guests.
Back at the resort, our Activity Director keeps things interesting with numerous activities including: weekly jam sessions, Saturday breakfast, Sunday church service, Tuesday and Thursday homemade doughnuts, Wednesday biscuits and gravy, bingo, live entertainment, shuffleboard, horseshoes, darts, daily pool exercise, line dancing, and assorted card games.
Book your trip to Cactus Gardens RV Resort today! 158 of our sites are available for reservations. Our staff is eager to make your retreat the best it can possibly be!

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