Valley Vista RV Resort

Arrived here on June 19, 2020 for one night located in Benson, Az.  We had a relatively level, full hookup, pull through site with 50 amp electric, water, sewer, and cable TV.  I did use my jacks to level, but did not hook up to water and sewer and left the toad attached.  This is an Encore resort and since it is off season, there were lots of empty sites.  It was another 100 degree day, but it cooled down nicely after sunset.  The whole park was gravel.  I chose not to buy internet for $6 and the facilities were closed due to covid19.  The park was clean and quiet.  They had a cactus garden there, (of course, this is in the desert).  There was also a dry riverbed which ran through the middle of the campground.  I suspect it would fill up with heavy rains.  A very nice campground host directed us to our site.  Sorry, did not take any photo's here.  We paid $15.67 through RPI and I rate this park P****.

Araby Acres RV Resort

We arrived here in Yuma, Az. on June 18, 2020 for one night while in route to San Antonio, Texas.  We had a pull through site which fit our 40 foot motorhome and toad.  The level site had full hookups including 50 amp electric, water, sewer, and cable TV.  We could only get 5 channels on the cable TV and 3 of those were in Spanish.  We cranked up our over the air antenna and had 21 channels.  This park is dedicated mostly to snowbirds who purchased a lot with small mobile homes on them.  The RV section is mostly gravel sites with asphalt roads.  Many people come to Yuma to get dental work done just over the border in Mexico.  They claim great service at discount prices.  There was not much activity in the park as most people come here for the winter months and the facilities were shut down due to covid19.   It was 100 degrees when we arrived and was about 80 degrees when we woke up in the morning.  It was a pleasant stop over and we paid $15.67 through RPI.  I rate this park P***.

Rancho Oso RV Park

We arrived here on August 24 for the last three nights of our summer trip.  This park is located in the hills above Santa Barbara, Ca.  It was very warm here in the upper 90's and there was only 30 amp service at this park along with water and sewer.  In addition to that, the power was very low at the electrical pedestal.  Our front air conditioner was not working for some reason, (probably because the power was so low), but the back one worked and we did have a shaded site which helped keep us cooler.  It was still uncomfortably warm in our rig during the day.  It cooled down at night though.  I attended a wine sampling in the park one day and Aggie and I went into Santa Barbara on Sunday to attend church at the mission, but we missed the mass and found another church a few miles away.  Afterward, we passed a few hours along the coast enjoying an art fair.  We rented some movies while there as the over the air TV reception was not very good.  Cell reception was also very weak and no internet available.  I rate this park M*** and we paid $10 per night.  I will avoid this park in the summertime in the future. 

Morrow Strand State Beach

We arrived here on August 20 for 4 nights and this park is located right on the sand in Morrow Bay, Ca.  This campground has about 30 full hook up sites which are too close to provide a fire pit, while the rest had fire pits and tables.  We had a waterfront site which was a dry camping site with no hook ups.   We enjoyed our stay here and paid $35 per night which included our $2 nightly senior discount.  I rate this park P****.

The surf was only 1 to 2 feet here, but that did not stop the surfers from braving the 63 degree water, which they said was warmer than usual.  They have closed the beach to swimmers and surfing for the last few weeks because of Great White Shark sightings.  I snapped this picture with thousands of birds flying in a swarm feeding on a large school of fish.  If you have ever seen a swarm of bees; that is what this looked like, only birds.  It looked like an elliptical cloud hovering 2 to 10 feet above the water a foot ball field long.  The water was boiling with fish and birds.  We took several walks along the bluff overlooking the Pacific ocean and Aggie collected some silver dollar shells on the beach to bring home to Lindsey.  This is located in a multi-million dollar residential neighborhood.  One 10,000 sq foot water view lot is currently for sale for $2 million.  We restocked the fridge and poked through the local gift shops where Aggie found a shop which made her

two necklaces.  I washed the dirty Tahoe one day; and I assisted the local barber put a down payment on his house with my $30 haircut.

Russian River

We arrived here on August 18 for 2 nights.  We have stayed here before and it is a good stop about 100 miles north of San Francisco, Ca.  We enjoyed the warmer temperatures after the cool coastal weather in Oregon, but still did not break out my shorts with 85 to 90 degree temps.  We opted to relax in the campground and since I had good cell reception I caught up on the blog.  Buddy went for a tethered swim both days which was good as he needed a bath.  No over the air TV here, but some

campers were getting satellite reception.  There appeared to be mostly permanent residents in this campground as automobile traffic early in the morning indicated people going to work.  Our site was relatively level, but I used my left rear jack to level the coach.  When we were preparing to leave the jack would not go up and I had to manually raise it as I sprung a leak in the hydraulic line.  Well, another project when I return home.  This park only offers 30 amp electric and water in all sites.  They have a dump station to empty sewage.  We paid $11 per night with our RPI membership.  I rate this park M***.

Westport Union Landing State Beach

This is a first come, first served park and I called ahead to confirm availability for our 40 footer and the park ranger said he would block off a site for me.  There was plenty of room when we arrived as most campers stayed only one night and on their way they went.  We arrived here on August 16 for 2 nights after a very slow and tedious cruise through the mountains on highway 271 coming from the north.  This was 20 miles of S curves around the mountains on very narrow lanes.  While they did not recommend vehicles over 32 feet, it is usually because a few dangerous turns.  We must have had 50 blind curves and I would not recommend travel from this direction with a 40 footer with auto in tow.  That said, once we arrived we enjoyed our site with a spectacular view of the ocean on top of a cliff which was in the process of falling down.  There was a path to the beach from our campground.  The campground offered a pit toilet, water faucet for the park and each site had a fire pit and concrete picnic table.  Just dry camping and the crashing of the waves.  No cell service or over the air TV.  Everyone enjoyed the beautiful sunsets.  We paid $66 for 2 nights which included a $2 discount per night for senior citizens at California State Parks.  I rate this park P****.

We had campfires both nights and had a group of 5 motorcyclists join us one night who were riding dirt bikes along the beaches off dirt roads.  Buddy went for several walks along the beach and we hiked about one mile to another campground which was connected to this park.  We had to be careful as the hillside was caving in along our path.  It was probably 100 foot drop to the rocks, sand, and ocean below.  We visited Glass Beach in Fort Bragg one day and Aggie collected some of the colored glass in the sand.  Aggie also collected some smooth sanded rocks to paint with Lindsey when we return home.

Klamath RV Park

We arrived here August 12 for 4 nights.  We have stayed here before and it is a good stop travelling along the US highway 101.  This is a small private park who also accepts RPI and most sites are parked on the grass.  Only 5 sites in the park are available to RPI members.  Although the campground hosts were watering the grass by hand during the day, the grass was mostly burnt out.  Sites were very narrow as I could not put out my slides and awnings and still be in our site.  We had a 100 foot long pull through site located in the second row though.  In the past we were assigned what they call waterfront sites, but now those sites are reserved for retail customers who pay $65 per night.  The river was low and no access to the river as a storm took out 20 acres of the property and the river bank was a 6 foot drop.  The back part of the park had full time residents living there.  We had full hook ups with 30 amp electric, water, sewer, and cable TV.  There was no over the air TV, cell reception, or internet.  There is no pool, spa, clubhouse other than a bathroom and showers and a pricey laundry room.  Bring your own food as the closest major shopping is one hour north (with construction) in Crescent City.  Strict rules don't allow electric heaters or your use of RV washers and dryers.  This park also charges a resort fee of $4 plus some taxes to RPI members and only takes cash or check.  I would like to point out that this is NOT a resort and a $4 resort fee is a 40 percent surcharge.  People always seem to be very friendly in this park including the campground host.  Very tight 180 degree turn into the park and if you miss it there is no turn around past that point.  We paid $14.50 per night and I rate this park P***.

We visited Crescent City one day and had a lovely dinner at a Cafe overlooking the Ocean.  Aggie had a huge dish of shrimp, scollops, and fish over a bed of pasta and I ordered some scollops.  Our meal came with clam chowder and we took most of Aggie's food home for a second dinner in the motorhome.  One day we took Buddy to the mouth of the Klamath river which is only 4 miles down the road.  We also cruised to a lookout on top of a hill where you could observe the coastline from a top of a cliff.  I had to include a picture of this custom motorcycle parked at one of the sites in our campground.  One camper observed a bear across the river and he swam across to our side.