Russian River RV Resort

We arrived at this Thousand Trails Campground on July 15 for 2 nights.  We have rated this before and the only changes I noticed was cabins on some of the RV spots.  This is a very hilly park and most sites are very close together and located about 60 miles north of San Francisco on Hwy 101. Sites come with 30 Amp electric and water.  No sewer connection, no over the air TV, no cable, and no swimming pool or spa.  They do have a river that was a little low this year, but campers and dogs (including Buddy) were swimming there.  They have a clubhouse with pool table and TV and a small store.  We paid $10 per night with RPI, We took a day trip to Lake Sonoma and visited a Solar Farm, a separate post.  I rate this park M***.

Fallen Leaf Campground

We arrived here on July 8, for one week.  We stay here every summer for one week and love it.  We did have bears travelling in our campground almost every day while there.  We attended a comedy improv at the Valhalla which was very childish and we left during the intermission.  We also attended a Broadway Blues venue which was entertaining but a little amateurish at the Valhalla also.  In the past we have been very satisfied with the performances there.  We took our usual fifty mile drive around Lake Tahoe and also took a short trip to Truckee and walked through the historic district with Buddy.  We stopped along the Truckee River and watched the rafters paddling by and Buddy got a little swim tethered to his leash.  I did take out the kayak one day on Fallen Leaf Lake.  It was a little windy and had nearly one foot chop.  I did not stay out long as it was tough paddling in the waves.  I did swim in the lake two days and I guessed the temperature of the water was about 68 degrees, warm for this lake.  Buddy did get a swim in Fallen Leaf Lake and Lake Tahoe.  Weather was beautiful all week with the exception of a thunderstorm one afternoon.  We have been sleeping in till almost 9 am every day.  We also went to Harrah's Casino one day and enjoyed watching Arty the Party, a disc jockey, who is very entertaining during a special event for all the celebrities and NBC executives who televised the golf tournament that was going on while we were there.  All the tables were reserved inside the event but there were hundreds of people outside the barricades along with us.  I have rated this park before and nothing has changed - it is a federal park with only dry camping.  I have included a selfie of Aggie and I at Lake Tahoe and a picture of a grove of beautiful blue wild flowers near Fallen Leaf Lake.

Walker River Pull out Walker, Ca.

On July 7 we left home for our summer trip and spent the night along the Walker River.  We stopped about 5 miles south of the city of Walker, California.  Most of the larger pull outs were filled with construction equipment, but we nabbed one that was not being used.  I had difficulty leveling the rig here, but it must have been operator error.  No cell reception here.  I did get a few channels of over the air TV.  This is a popular fishing destination, but we did not see any fisherman.  Maybe they were all camping in the campgrounds located along the river.  We took Buddy for a walk along the river and then pulled out some chairs and enjoyed the view of the river and surrounding mountains.  This is located on the 395 which is a major highway ( just one lane in each direction here ).  After dark we did not even notice the traffic with our windows open and slides open.  The rushing river drown out any possible noise from the highway and we slept great.  I rate this parking spot 4 stars and it was FREE.

2018 Summer Itinerary

We have completed our schedule for our summer trip and this year we are staying mostly at parks we have previously stayed.  I will only rate the campgrounds that are new to us, however, I will try to document any interesting destinations.  We will leave on July 7 and head north to our first stop for one week in Lake Tahoe at Fallen Leaf Lake.  We will then head west toward the California coast and stay at Thousand Trails campground , The Russian River for 2 nights which is just north of San Francisco, Ca.  We should arrive at Ancient Redwood RV Park in Redcrest, Ca. for four nights on July 17.  This is located in the Redwood trees and we plan to take day trips through the redwoods and along highway 1 along the pacific coast.  After that, we will head north and stay at the Lucky Seven Casino for 2 nights of boondocking.  We will head north into Oregon and stop one night of boondocking at The Mill Casino in Coos Bay, Oregon.  Boondocking means FREE camping.  We will pick up our grandaughter, Danika and will travel north to Portland, Oregon and stay at Jantzen Beach RV Resort for two weeks starting July 24.  We will visit with our son Matthew, who will be camping with us and while there Aggie will be flying out to Boston to attend a wedding for 4 days.  We will head southwest to visit our friends Chris and Gary August 7 who live in Bend, Oregon and will camp out on their estate for three nights.  We have one free night in route to Ponderosa Falls RV Park in Cheney, Washington, where we will spent two nights.  We will arrive our next stop will be at Big Arm State Park at Flathead Lake, Montana on August 13 for one week.  We will then head southeast to Mountain Valley RV resort in Heber City, Utah for three nights.  This is a two day trip so we will stop somewhere along the way.  Our last stop will be at the Las Vegas RV Resort for three nights on August 24.  We plan to be home on August 27.