The RV Travels & Camping of Linda & Robin

Newport Dunes

2012-02-12T17:14:00.001-08:00

Normally we camp by ourselves and enjoy not having to be on any kind of schedule or
have visit with other people.

This weekend we went to a all womens RV rally at Newport Dunes in Newport Beach. The Rally had a total of 20 rigs of all shapes and all piloted by women. Some of them on their own and some with companions and friends. The group was comprised of some retired and some still working. We had a great time and enjoyed the company of women with some of the same
interests as us.

The weather was pretty good, Friday night we had a shower and Saturday we had a little drip right as the pot luck was getting started. The hosts had use of the clubhouse so all was good.

The campground was on the back bay in Newport Beach, nice campground, but the campsites were pretty tight. We were surrounded by rally members so it was quiet but if
we had families with a couple of kids on each side of us or a party group, we would not have
been happy.

But it was a great weekend with lots of jokes and laughing and visiting.

Quartzsite 2012

2012-02-05T17:00:00.000-08:00

We just got back last weekend from our third annual visit to this sleepy town for their annual RV tent show and many swapmeets. What Sturgis is to motorcylces, Quartzsite is to motorhomes. All shapes and sizes for motorhomes and people.

The weather was great, not to warm, chilly evenings and nights.

The first day we arrived we took a little drive north of town on Hwy 95 out to the BLM land. Dry camping allowed all along the road. We managed to find friends camping in the desert, Eldon and Nancy, we stopped and had a nice visit. They used our campsite to park their car to go shopping at the big tent and swapmeet.

The big tent and surrounding area seemed to have more vendors than last year. We didn't purchase to much, but we got our friend, Karen, set up with a flag pole and flag that attached to the ladder on her motorhome.

Of course we had to check out some of the food vendors as well. Some pretty good BBQ and polish sausages. Lots of other stuff but the stomach will only hold so much.

I would get up in the morning and Buddee and I would go for a walk, then I would sit outside finish my coffee and watch the traffic so by wishing I had the money that would pass by, motorhomes and motorhomes towing all kinds of toys. Millions of dollars in vehicles.

Anyway we had a great time as usual and will be going back again next year.

I didn't take to many pictures as it was a "been there done that" kind of weekend.

Christmas 2011 @ Santee Lakes

2011-12-29T08:20:00.000-08:00

We setup camp at Santee Lakes on Friday afternoon before Christmas, spending Christmas camping. The weather was beautiful all weekend, it got into the 70's during the day and at night it was a little nippy, frost on the car in the early morning.

This is a nice campground and we had a site along side of one of the lakes. Ducks are abundent and you can fish the lake.

It was a lazy weekend, with lots of quality time spent in my gravity free recliner outside watching the ducks. Life is good. Christmas Eve we cooked a small Prime Rib with all the fixings.

We did a little Christmas decorating on the coach and had a little Christmas tree inside. We woke on Christmas morning and opened presents. Santa was good this year, I got a Kindle Fire, tool box for the coach, Robin got a electric pressure cooker, and the coach got a weather station, cabinet for the kitchen....etc....... good stuff.

We were sad to have to pack up on Monday and head home.

Hope you enjoy the pictures.

Thanksgiving near Death Valley

2011-11-28T18:23:00.000-08:00

Well we had another successful camping trip over the Thanksgiving weekend. We left 4am Thanksgiving morning heading for Terrible's RV Resort and Casino in Pahrump, NV. We stopped at Peggy Sue's Diner for breakfast and got into Pahrump about 10am. A friend was joining us in her RV later in the day from Quartzsite. We have stayed at Terribles before and really like the Resort.

The weather all weekend was perfect. Mid to upper 60's with lots of sunshine and no wind. The nights were pretty chilly so the heater and furnace were a welcome addition in the evening.

Robin started making our Thanksgiving feast of Turkey, dressing, mashed potatoes, fruit salad and pumpkin pie for dessert. She had gotten everything mixed together ahead of time so she could just get everything in the oven for dinner later. Karen arrived about 3pm and we had dinner about 5:30pm. YUM!!!! Good stuff.

On Friday we took a day trip to Red Rock Canyon. It has about a 13 mile scenic drive thru the area. We saw a few burros along the road and stopped to watch some people climbing the cliffs while we had lunch of Turkey sandwiches. We went to the buffet at the on site Casino on Friday night for $10.00 Prime Rib.

On Saturday we took a day trip into Death Valley, heading towards Furnace Creek, with stops at Zabriskie Point, an absolute must see, Dantes View, Furnace Creek and Artist Palette.
Karen hosted dinner that night with Steaks on the grill. Needless to say we did not starve.

We have decided to make this an annual thing for Thanksgiving.

Hope you enjoy the pictures!

October 2011 Camping

2011-10-23T15:58:00.000-07:00

Our first camping weekend of October took us to Sacred Rock Reserve in San Diego county. We had a nice relaxing weekend. On Saturday night a gentlemen with a couple of telescopes came to the campground and set them up. It was great to have some of the stars pointed out to us and being able to see them through the telescope.

The next weekend we went to the Yucaipa County campgrounds and went to Oak Glen area on Saturday to see the apple orchards in the area.
We checked in on Friday about 2pm and got all set up. About 3pm we noticed the hills above us had a brush fire going. It didn't take long to pick up steam. Soon there were four water dropping choppers dumping water as fast as they could suck it up. The water source they were using was right next to the campground so we got a birds eye view of the choppers refilling with water. The fire ended up eating up about 100 areas and no structures destroyed.

The rest of the weekend was very peaceful and kick back. My kind of weekend.

Enjoy the pictures.

Lake Moreno 9-24-11

2011-09-25T17:00:00.000-07:00

We took off Friday at noon to spend the weekend at Lake Moreno County Campground east of San Diego Lake Moreno. This was a nice campground with E/W hookups with a dump station on site. This was our first visit so we weren't quite sure what to expect.

We arrived about 3pm and got everything set up. Nice roomy campsite at the end of a row.
Towards evening the sky got dark and we started to get some rain. We got a couple of good sized showers with some lightening off in the distance. So we spent the evening listening to the Angels game and playing Crazy Eights.

Note: Verizon has no cellphone signal, we were parked under a tree so no TV.
It was kind of nice to spend the weekend without any technology.

On Saturday morning we awoke to a bright sunny day. The temp got up to the mid-80's with a slight breeze, perfect day. After a late breakfast we took a short dirive to the Railroad Museum near Campo, Ca.Railroad Museum. It was an interesting way to spend a couple of hours.

We got back to the campsite in time for a little nap and relax. Robin started up the Dutch Oven for a potato ditty. It was great, potatoes, bacon, onions and cheese. YUM! I got the grill out and we grilled a couple of pork steaks to go along with the potatoes.

After dinner we decided to watch one of the DVD's that we have piled up. We watched RED. I thought it was great. Perfect end to a great weekend. We didn't want to leave......but allas work is neccessary....gas money for coach..!!!!
Hope you enjoy the pictures.

Tall Ships and Chula Vista RV Park Labor Day 2011

2011-09-05T15:39:00.000-07:00

We started our weekend on Friday with a half day of work and hitting the freeway to San Diego and the Chula Vista RV Park in Chula Vista.Chula Vista RV Resort. This isn't usually our type of camping but we thought we would check it out The traffic was pretty good and we were checked in and set up by 3pm. Very nice Resort. The weather was perfect lots of sunshine and a nice ocean breeze. We settled and and had hamburger sliders for dinner.

We awoke Saturday to overcast skies but temp was nice. We decided to head out to the Tall Ship Festival at the Maritime Museum. Festival of Sail We got there early and had a great place to park across the street. One of the ships was the Star of India. History of Star of India.
Awesome to walk around the oldest active sailing ship. We boarded a couple of other Tall ships anchored at the museum.

It was noonish so we headed back to the Resort. Sunny for the rest of day of which there were walks with Buddee and Liz and naps. Saturday night the Resort had a country band playing in the park area. We walked by to check it out. The band was pretty good.

Sunday the day started out sunny and stayed sunny for the day. We just lounged around all day with walks around the Resort and Marina. Around 2:30 we strolled up to the free hots dogs that the park was serving. Good hot dogs. About 4am on Monday morning we heard the pitter patter of rain on the roof......where the heck did that come from???? By morning it was gone and we had to pack up and head home. We did drive through a couple of areas of rain on the way.

Another Great Weekend.
Enjoy the pictures.

Glacier NP 2011

2011-07-24T20:13:00.000-07:00

This vacation trip has been awesome! We were on the road for two weeks with the destination of Glacier NP in Montana with a day trip into Canada to see Waterton NP. Waterton NP is the sister park of Glacier. Glacier has had so much snow this winter that the Going to the Sun Road didn't open until the day after we arrived at St Mary's.

We decided to spend our time on the East side of the park and we stayed at a KOA in St Marys along with my son Richie and his wife Judy who stayed in a Kamping Kabin in the campground. His aunt, Karen, and her friend, Bev,visiting from Mass, also joined us with Karen's motorhome and camped next to us. What a great time we had.

The views were unbelievable and the visiting was non-stop. We took a day trip up to Logan's Pass at the summit of the Going to the Sun Road and took a boat ride on St Mary's Lake.

On day two we drove up into Waterton NP in Canda. We saw deer grazing on the lawns of Waterton. We had lunch at the Prince of Wales Hotel and we saw a grizzly and two cubs.The scenery was awesome.

On day three we took a short drive up to Many Glacier Lake and we got to see a moose come across the road.

Our first stop on the way back home was in Polson, Montana along the Flathead Lake. It was hard to leave the area very pretty. Flathead Lake
We also stopped at the Miracle of America Museum. I am not usually much of a museum person but this place is awesome. It would make American Pickers on the History Channel go nuts! Pictures in Museum.

Our second stop was the Craters of the Moon, Arco Idaho. Pictures of Craters of the Moon. Strange place.

And last but not least are a few pictures of the campgrounds and campsites that we stayed. This was the first time we used KOA campgrounds alot as they were close to the freeways and had pull throughs. They are not all created equal. We also stayed at Lincoln Rd RV park in Helena, MT and Century II RV Park in Salmon, Idaho. Pictures of Campgrounds

This blog was a hard one for me to write. I could have gone on for pages on the things we saw and stuff we did. I didn't want everyone to go to sleep in the middle of reading so I tried to keep it short.

The pictures that were used were taken by Karen, Robin and myself. Thanks for your contributions.

Memorial in Kings Canyon

2011-05-30T18:15:00.000-07:00

This weekend was our second annual trip to Kings Canyon-Sequoia NP. It was a very interesting trip, to say the least.

We started out on our usual zero dark thirty, 4am, on Thursday morning. The first sign that this trip was not going to be the norm was the Garmin GPS informing me the Interstate 5 was closed up ahead and to detour onto to the 101. Well, we didn't see any signs to indicate that so we chose to ignore the GPS, not a good idea. We started to see signs saying the same thing, luckily there was another detour option and we took that. The Ventura Hwy to the Hollywood Hwy back to the 5. Okay, that wasn't to bad.

Tooling on up the 5 towards Newhall a gentlemen in a pickup is motioning to us that there is something wrong on the passenger side of rig......crap! Pull over in the emergency lane....that was fun in the dark. One of side doors is open....double crap....our little step in missing along with a small rug...close the door and get back on the road.

Get into the Flying J in Bakersfield to gas up and get some breakfast. Open the door and the steps do not come out.....that's not good....it's going to be a long weekend without them working...it's a really big first step, not to mention getting back into the coach. After a brief discussion, we decide to have breakfast and by that time the Camping World in Bakerfield should be open.

We back track 20 miles to CW. They won't even look at it, to busy. The receptionist does google other options in the area. Before we leave we buy a replacement step that is now somewhere along the 5 freeway.

Our second call gets us Rosedale RV service, he says bring it on in we will take a look at it. The problem is a bad circuit board on the steps. Great.... this is a small shop, no way they have one in stock.....WELL they have one....YES!!! They even call our extended warranty and get it covered. They have us up and running in a little under two hours. Total of three hours lost....still have time to get there before dark. Great guys at Rosedale RV.

We get into Kings Canyon, Morine campground and get setup around 5pm.
Let the weekend begin. There are three campgrounds along the river and we are in the last one. All three campgrounds are mostly tent campers. About 98% tents and 2% other, MH, trailers, popups, FW. This place is absolutely beautiful. Tall pine trees, large spaces between campsites. Note: none of which are level, that's okay we brought blocks. We are settled in for the weekend. The weather was beautiful, lots of sun, around 70 degrees. We had a campfire on Friday night and Saturday we took a hike. The area is full of all kinds of hiking trails. What a wonderful weekend.

Saturday night the sky is starting to get dark so we run up to the Ranger station to check on the weather. 30% chance of rain, okay...we are leaving on Sunday morning anyway, so we pack up the outdoor stuff...good thing...it rained off and on all night.

Sunday morning we are sitting at the table eating some oatmeal and suddenly it starts to snow...Oh.....how beautiful.......WAIT!!! we are leaving and we have to climb another 3000 feet to get out of the canyon....NOT GOOD! We get our butts in gear and get on the road. By the time we get to the top we are driving with about three inches of snow on the road....but we made it just fine. No chains.....good thing we don't have any....we did see two cars that had slid off of the road.

Got to Bakersfield and spent the night and got on the road in the morning and got home all safe and sound.

Doheny SP in May

2011-05-15T17:27:00.000-07:00

We went to one of our local campgrounds over the weekend, Doheny SB. The weather could have been a little warmer with a little more sun, but it was all good. We had to wait to check into the campground as we got there 15 minutes before checkin time of 2pm. This is something new, as before if your space was emtpy you could check in any time. So we waited for a few minutes to get our paperwork.

My nephew Tony and his wife, Laura came and spent Saturday afternoon and evening with us. The was nice as I don't get to see them very often. They live on the East coast in Vermont. Tony is in San Diego for a month on a project for his work and Laura has flown out to join him for a week. They stayed for a TriTip dinner.

Didn't do much of anything except sit around and visit. We did take a short drive around the day use area and spotted a Hot Rod group having a cookout. I snapped a couple of pictures before we moved on.

We did manage to get wet before we got everything packed up for the short trip home. Of course by the time we got home the sun was shining.

All in all it was a great weekend.
Hope you enjoy the pictures.

Easter Weekend @ Calico Ghost Town

2011-04-24T17:55:00.000-07:00

Since Friday was a holiday for us we decided to head out to a little ghost town located just outside of Barstow, Ca. called Calico Ghost Town. We started out about 7am and stopped at Flying J in Barstow for gas.

We decided to stop for breakfast, at our turnoff to the Ghost Town, at a little Diner called Peggy Sue's 50's Diner. Interesting little diner. We have seen it many times on the way to other places but never stopped. It is right off the I15 freeway at Yermo Road exit. This is the same exit for the ghost town. If you are in to movie stuff it is fun to just walk around and look at all the stuff hanging on the walls. Of course, they have a little gift shop we just had to check out. The food was good and we even went back for dinner the same night, to lazy to cook.

Calico Ghost Town is about three miles off of the I15. There is a San Bernadino County Campground right next to the town. If you stay at the campground, admission to the town is free. The campground is FHU but not much else. It is in a canyon in the desert. When we arrived on Friday the weather was great, about 80 degrees and lots of sunshine. By nightfall the wind had come up and was pretty strong, wind lasted all weekend.

Calico Ghost Town was fun to wander through, luckily we did that on Friday before the strong winds appeared. We were going to go back on Saturday for a little train ride and tour the mine but the wind was so strong we decided not to go and stayed in the campground, mostly in the coach. It's to bad about the wind cause the weather was really nice otherwise.

We were camping so it was a good weekend. Hope you enjoy the pics.

Return to Quartzsite in March

2011-03-27T17:55:00.000-07:00

We made a return trip to the "Q" (Quartzsite, Az.) to say goodbye to a good friend that has been wintering there this year. She is heading back to Minnesota soon. I must say it certainly looks different when the RV Show and swapmeets have all packed up.

We had great weather the whole weekend, finally got to enjoy some sunshine. SoCa has been rather cold and rainy lately so the sun really felt good.

This was the first weekend we took our new Direct TV box along to use the dish on the roof of the RV to get satellite TV. Well.......normally I don't rant to much as we usually figure it out and move on. We finally figured it out but talk about clueless.

Of course everyone on the net said "piece of cake, five minute job" WRONG!! First we cleared out all the stuff we had stored in the cabinet over the drivers seat, where the cabling was located. Now.....we have two TV's and the option to have a third outside in one of the bays.
The cabinet has six cables in it. Now don't you think they would be labeled as to what TV they are for????? NOT A CHANCE!!!!! The only cable that any label on it was one of them that said "Sat" now in my mind that would mean satellite right???? Nope.....I should be so lucky. That one was for TV out......
Just about the time I was going to use the sat box for a frizbee, Robin took over. We had to experiment until we found two that worked...... YEAH.... we got the Direct TV logo on the TV.

NOW......next we had to get the satellite dish on the roof up and pointed in the right direction. Everyone said just check the rest of the campground and point it the same way........Wellll..........First you have to figure out how to get it to stand up before you can point it......One handle that says up and down....piece of cake right???? Well I can't see the roof so Robin is outside giving me hands signals for up and down. Well I think her up was my down....We don't want to discuss what hand signals I ended up getting before we had it up.

Now there are two rings that turn on the outside of the crank so you have to hold the rings and the crank or they all turn at the same time.
Now we have terms on the sat TV screen to azmiuth????degrees????? and tilt??????? now which ring is which........Of course all of this is mounted on the ceiling of the RV so you are standing there with your hands over your head all this time. Well.....anyway we finally got it done and had Sat TV all weekend.

Sorry for the long rant but I just had to get it out of my system.
Hope you enjoy the couple of pictures I took.

SAL (San Antonio Lake) Bi-Annual Rally

2011-02-22T08:58:00.000-08:00

We took off Friday from work and started out early for a Rally we have been attending for the last couple of years. We had a 4am lift off time and we were well out of town and traffic before the sun came up. Usually we go up the coast on the 101 but that requires us to drive through LA. This year we went the inland route over the grapevine. Not as pretty but an easier drive.

The forecast was for a wet weekend and weather man did not disappoint us. It rained most of the time we were there. Luckily our fearless leader, Judy, has always had the group meeting room for Feb, so we had it nice and dry and warm inside for the potlucks, bingo and blitz card game and overall visiting.

It was great seeing everyone and spending time visiting and between rain showers enjoying the scenery.

Our drive home was uneventful, we saw snow coming over the Tejon pass. We have one dirty rig inside and out.

Hope you enjoy the pictures

Quartzsite Az Big Tent RV Show and Swapmeet.

2011-01-30T17:55:00.000-08:00

We took a couple of extra days off work and headed for "Q" (Quartzsite, Az) for an extended weekend to check out the RV Show and Swapmeet they have in their town every year about this time. This town is a mecca for snowbirds and RV'ers of all kinds.

We arrived on Thursday afternoon and got settled in. Sandi and her friend came in about half an hour after we did. After everyone was set up we went and picked up our other friend, Karen.

The weather was perfect and we headed for the Big Tent and spent the afternoon looking for things we couldn't live without. I think we spent more time people watching then we did shopping. The next day we hit the Tyson Wells swapmeet for more of the same.

The whole weekend the weather was perfect with lots of sunshine and no winds. We were having such a good time I didn't even take very many pictures. It was great to see everyone again and have a good visit.

The trip home was exciting, we had strong winds all the way home until we got past Palm Springs and then it rained the rest of the way home.

We have decided we are going to make this a yearly get together.

Christmas @ Chula Vista RV Resort

2010-12-26T16:53:00.000-08:00

We left on Thursday morning to spend the Christmas holiday at Chula Vista RV Resort just south of San Diego, Ca. We were a little concerned about the weather as it had been raining alot over the last week.

We didn't need to worry as it turned out to be a very nice weekend with sunshine and nice weather. We did get a little rain on Saturday night but it was gone by the time we got up on Sunday.

The Resort is nice and sites are not hugh but okay. There were several Prevosts parked in Resort and several motorhomes from different states. I think they were snowbirds staying with the warmer weather.

The weekend was very peaceful and we just relaxed and enjoyed, Robin cooked and Buddee and I did lots of walking around and checking out all the high end rigs in the park.

The Marina and a park was right behind the campground and a nice place to go for walks. The park had ducks and we walked along the Marina.

The park had a potluck for Christmas with them furnishing the Ham and everyone that signed up to bring a side dish. We had a Kansas City Prime Rib that Robin's Aunt had sent us for Christmas so we were kinda set on having that for Christmas Dinner. It turned out just perfect and left overs for a few sandwiches next week, yum!

Christmas lights

Thanksgiving in Pahrump, NV 2010

2010-11-30T19:04:00.000-08:00

We decided to spend Thanksgiving this year in Pahrump, NV at Terribles Lakeside RV Resort and Casino. We really like this Resort it is also very close the Death Valley where we like to take day trips sightseeing in the area.
We arrived at Terribles about noon on Thanksgiving day got checked in, and gassed up for our return trip home. We had Site #92 right on the lake, great spot. We got setup and Robin baked an apple pie for dessert. She didn't cook Turkey this year and we went to the casino for their Thanksgiving buffet. The food is pretty good, not a large variety but good. Turkey,dressing,gravy & sweet potatoes are all I need. Later that evening we had pie for dessert. The temps were a bit chilly so we unhooked the water hose for the night, as we did every night we were there.

The next morning was in the 20's so using on board water overnight had been a good idea. We were meeting a couple of friends from Minnesota that were checking in on Friday. They showed up about 1pm with their popup. They had two heaters with them to keep them warm. We sat around and visited and Robin made fried rice and orange chicken for dinner and pie for dessert.

Saturday, chilly again, upper teens. We decided on a road trip to Beatty, Nv and the ghost town of Rhyolite, NV. lots of desert scenery. The sun was out and temps in the mid 50's.
When we got back to the Resort we fed and walked the dogs and went to the casino for prime rib buffet. It was a good day. Some time during the night it started to rain, but by morning it had cleared up to be nice an sunny.

Sunday we packed up and were on the road by 8:30. We saw lots of RV's leaving the desert area around the Dumont Dunes. There is alot of dry camping in that area and lots of ATV's having a ball running around the area. When we got to the I15 at Baker the traffic was already getting pretty heavy. A couple of times we were down to 30 mph or slower for a couple of miles and then it would open up again. The closer we got to home the more windy it became. Even with the wind and traffic we were home by 2pm.

Another great weekend with friends we hadn't seen in a long time.

South Carlsbad SB

2010-11-14T16:49:00.000-08:00

We just returned from a weekend at the beach, South Carlsbad SB. It was a perfect weekend. I don't think we saw a cloud all weekend. The campground is located on the bluffs overlooking the beach. Some of the campsites are large enough that it is not unusual to see two RV's parked in one site. The campground allows three vehicles per site.

We spent the weekend doing absolutely nothing. Robin did cook up a Dutch Oven pork chops and potatoes dish that was very tasty. Otherwise it was sitting around the campfire in the evening and during the day a couple of dog walks and napping in the chair.

I have posted a couple of pictures hope you enjoy them.

Yucaipa County Park & Oak Glen

2010-10-17T16:56:00.000-07:00

We took off early from work on Friday and headed out to check out the apple picking as it is the season.
We picked a campground we hadn't stayed at before, The Yucaipa Regional Park has a small campground of under 50 sites with full hookups. It turned out to be a great little campground. Lots of space between the campsites and lots of green grass. The site pads and patio area are paved. We will definitely be going back there again.
The Oak Glen area has lots of apple farms and shops and stores that sell everything and anything containing apples. It was a little cloudy with a few sprinkles on the way up to the campground. Saturday turned out to be a nice day.
We took a drive up to the Oak Glen area and so did everyone else it seems. This time of the year you can go pick you own apples from one or many of the apple farms in the area. We decided to support the local labor force and bought them already picked. We stopped at several of the shops and stores in the area. We also stopped at a local fresh produce stand and stocked up the next week. Good thing we didn't have much in the RV frig.

Grand Canyon Sept 2010

2010-09-08T20:53:00.000-07:00

We took a couple of extra days for Labor Day weekend and headed for the Grand Canyon for a couple of days. The weather was beautiful, low 80's and lots of sunshine. We drove the 500 miles in one day with both of us doing some driving.

We stayed at the Trailer Village Campground right inside the park. It was very close to the South Rim which was great. The campground had full hookups with cable TV. The cell service was great also.

I don't think there is a way to describe the Grand Canyon to do it justice. You just have to see it to believe the scoop of that "Big Ditch". We took a drive down the Desert View Drive to the tower overlooking the canyon.

We also stopped at the Tusayan Museum and ruins.

We did a little tour of the Bright Angel Lodge and surroundings, the lodge is on the rims edge.

We didn't get to see a close up of the Condor's that live in the canyon, though we did see a couple of them riding some of the wind currents in the distance.

Our trip home was two days and we stopped in Needles overnight at the Riverview RV Resort on the Colorado River. We had a site facing the river. Great site, but it was hot and humid, so unless you were in the water you pretty much stayed in your air conditioned coach. The next morning we were up and outa there headed home.

Grand Canyon

Dogs in river

Hope you enjoy the pictures.

Hwy 395 & Lake Tahoe Trip-July 2010

2010-07-25T16:29:00.000-07:00

We took a week and drove up Hwy 395 to Lake Tahoe. Our first stop was an overnight at the Boulder Creek RV Resort three miles south of Lone Pine. Mt Whitney could be seen in the distance. The weather was a little warm, I think about 103 degrees. Needless to say we ran the AC all night, good thing it works well. We took a short drive through the Alabama Hills outside of Lone Pine. This area was used to make alot of western movies.
Movies made in Lone Pine
We then made our way up to Mt Whitney. Much cooler up there, about 80 degrees, big difference. There is really a sharp contrast in landscape from Lone Pine to Mt Whitney...the highest point in the contiguous United States.

The next day we were on our way to Crowley Lake for the night. Robin's family did alot of camping in this area when she was growing up. Convict Lake, Owens Valley are all in this area, which is where they did lots of camping and fishing. We toured the area for the day.

Day Three we headed out continuing up the 395, one of the stops was Mono Lake. The Mono Lake Story. We also drove by Topez Lake, Topaz lake is feed by the famous West Walker river, well known for it's great fishing from the last Saturday of April through the last day of October. We stopped for lunch at Walker Burger in Walker, noted for it's root beer freezes, I can attest they are pretty good. Our stop this night was the Carson Valley RV Resort and Casino in Minden, NV, we went and enjoyed a nice dinner and a little gambling, very little. Needless to say, I didn't get rich.

The next day we headed into South Lake Tahoe, spending three nights at the Tahoe Valley Campground. We spent a couple of days visiting with Robin's relatives, as they had rented a house on the lake. We also took a trip around the lake. We had a good visit and really enjoyed our time there.

Friday we packed up and headed for home with an overnight stop in Bakersfield RV Resort. We usually stay there whenever we are coming from that direction. Saturday we headed over the hill and home.

We had a great time and really enjoyed seeing the sights and visiting with everyone.

Every campground we stayed, I would recommend to anyone traveling the area.
Hope you enjoy the pictures

Kings Canyon, Sequoia NP

2010-05-31T15:17:00.000-07:00

Kings Canyon National Park preserves a huge unspoiled and beautiful area of the central Sierra Nevada mountains, containing several deep glaciated canyons, countless lakes, pools, meadows and waterfalls, and over 20 peaks that exceed 13,000 feet. The park also shelters six groves of giant sequoia trees, found near the southern boundary which is shared with Sequoia National Park; the two are administered as one unit, and have similar scenery except that Sequoia has more of the huge trees.

This was a weekend of viewing nature at it's best. The canyon was blooming with colors and the creeks and rivers were high with water. This is an amazing place. We were "WOWED".

Hope you enjoy and pictures and video.

Kings Canyon Vid

Silent Valley RV Resort, April, 2010

2010-04-25T19:50:00.000-07:00

Silent Valley is an exclusive private recreational vehicle resort located in the San Jacinto Mountains between Banning and Idyllwild. We are at an elevation of 3500 feet, and the weather is generally mild throughout the year. Our location is only two hours from San Diego, Los Angeles and Orange County.

This was our third visit to this campground, we always enjoy it, I don't know why we don't go more. It is still considered off season so the campground wasn't very full. It fact you could park just about anywhere you wanted to. We had a nice quiet weekend. We even went to their on site resturant for dinner Friday and Saturday.

Saturday we decided to take a drive up to Idllywild, about 6000 ft. We could see the snow on the peaks as we drove up to the campground on Friday.

Idyllwild is nestled in the San Jacinto mountains. Set among tall pines, sweet smelling cedars and Legendary rocks. The town has kept its "small town" atmosphere. Locally owned shops and restaurants are all you will find here. Come and experience the peace and quiet of Idyllwild.

We had a good time playing in the snow and enjoying the sunny day. Another great weekend of camping.
Hope you enjoy the pictures.

Easter weekend @ Santee Lakes, Santee, Ca

2010-04-04T18:23:00.000-07:00

Easter weekend started on Good Friday for us, so we took advantage of the three day weekend and headed out to do a little local camping.
We spent three days and two night at Santee Lakes near San Diego, this was our second visit. We had a campsite on the lake, number six I think.
Santee Lakes Recreation Preserve is convenient adventure on 190 acres and seven lakes nestled in the foothills just 20 minutes from San Diego.
It is a very nice campground around two of the lakes on site. The lake side sites are great, good size and right next to the water. The main part of the campground in some areas are kind of cramped and not as nice.
The wifi is good and Verizon has good cell service.

We spent most of the weekend just sitting and watching the ducks swim by and people fishing, didn't see anyone catch anything.
The weather was okay, comfortable in the morning early afternoon and evening. It the middle of the afternoon the wind would come up and get a little chilly.
I have posted a few duck pictures, hope you enjoy.

Also a short vid.
Wildlife on lake

KQ Ranch and Borrego Springs for flower blooming

2010-03-14T20:29:00.000-07:00

We headed up to KQ Ranch RV Resort for the weekend. We arrived late Friday afternoon to a cold wind and cloudy skies.

This secluded 5-star RV and camping resort is located just 40 miles east of San Diego. Only 4 miles south of Julian's charming downtown district, the resort has access to the Pacific Crest and California riding and hiking trails. This makes the secluded K.Q. Ranch located in San Diego County a perfect choice for all RV, equestrian, and nature enthusiasts.

Our intent was to head out Saturday morning to Borrego Springs and see if any flowers were blooming. Saturday we rose to sunshine which turned into fog and wind. We were hoping that the weather would change as we drove down the hill and it did. It was breezy but the sun was out and it was nice. We did see some blooming along the way.
We also stopped and checked out some the the local sculptures that are located along the road into Borrego Springs,

History is unfolding in a town already filled with its own unique historical milestones, Borrego Springs with the first placement of the Gomphotherium free standing art structures. These creatures lived in the area about 3 million years ago.
Dennis Avery, land owner of Galleta Meadows Estates in Borrego Springs envisioned the idea of adding 'free standing art' to his property with original steel welded sculptures created by 'Perris Jurassic Park' owner/artist/welder Ricardo Breceda based in Perris, California.

Enjoy the pictures and video.

Video

SAL Feb 2010 Trailer Trash Rally

2010-02-15T20:09:00.000-08:00

This rally is held at San Antonio Lake north of Paso Robles, Ca. We had been going to this rally for the last two years. They have one in the spring and one in the fall, October. We take the 101 highway thats goes along the coast the through some wine country. This year the theme was "trailer trash prom" I decided the best way for me to help was to watch from the sidelines. I did manage to capture a little video and a couple of pictures.
Hope you enjoy.
Trailer Trash Prom night

QUARTZSITE, AZ. 2010

2010-01-27T17:45:00.000-08:00

Vid of rain in Quartzsite

First let me say that this was our first trip to Quartzsite. I must say that seeing it for the first time Quartzsite in January is more of an "experience" than it is a place.

For those of you that have never been there, in January and sometimes longer this little town of about 3,000 turns into a swapmeet/rally/fair and more. It is the Sturgis of RV's. I have heard that numbers reach into the 100,000's. The surrounding area is Desert BLM land and cheap camping, no frills, just park in the desert.

Since this was our first trip we decided to stay in town at Rice Ranch campground with full hookups. Since the weather was iffy we are glad we did.

Karen, a friend from Fargo, ND had flown into California and joined us on this trip. She is also responsible for alot of the pictures and video in the slideshow.

We arrived about 9am in the rain on Thursday Jan 21st. We got checked in and setup and then the downpour started. Everything in the MH started up fine except for the water heater. We called the dealer back in CA and they suggested several things, none worked. So we went squishing off in the rain to find a repair man. Lots around, but we checked at the campground office to get a recommedation. After an hour standing in the rain it finally fired up. Condensation had built up. Once we got it dried out it was fine. We stayed in on Thursday watched a movie and played on the internet.

Friday we woke to a cloudy and breezy day, but dry. Off we went to check out the sites. Swapmeets all over the place. We started at the big tent where all the RV "stuff" you can't live without was located. Spent the day at various swapmeets, lot's of walking, there are food vendors all over the place so we had to check out some smoked turkey legs and we stopped and brought BBQ ribs and pulled pork and tri-tip for dinner. Yum!

Saturday, the weather was sunny and warmer, more walking and swapmeeting. We were invited to dinner at a friend of Karen's who winters in the area. Steak and baked potato, good stuff.

Sunday, time to pack up and head home. Nice day and sunshine on the way home. Snow on the hills in the Palm Springs area from all the storms.

I have to say we really enjoyed the weekend and we will probably be going back next year. Just seeing all the people and RV's from all over the country was cool. I like to people watch so I really enjoyed the weekend.

Hope you enjoy the pictures.

Valley of Fire day trip

2010-01-04T15:29:00.000-08:00

Valley of Fire State Park is located only six miles from Lake Mead and 55 miles northeast of Las Vegas via Interstate 15 and on exit 75. Valley of Fire is Nevada's oldest and largest state park, dedicated 1935. The valley derives its name from the red sandstone formations and the stark beauty of the Mojave Desert. Ancient trees and early man are represented throughout the park by areas of petrified wood and 3,000 year-old Indian petroglyph.

The road through the park is only about 23 miles long, but there is lots to look at in those miles. It took us most of the day to see everything. The pictures taken give you and idea of the formations throughout the park.

Death Valley day trip

2010-01-04T15:22:00.000-08:00

The first of our two day trips took us to Death Valley. I had really never seen much of the area. Needless to say there is lots more than just desert to see. We traveled from Pahrump to Scotty's Castle. Lots of landscape to see and the pictures will say it alot better than I can explain it. The day stayed mostly cloudly and cool. Enjoy the slideshow. I think the landscape is just awesome in the area we covered.

Terrible's RV Resort and Casino, Pahrump, NV.

2010-01-04T15:15:00.000-08:00

This is going to be a three part entry for the New Years weekend. This one will review the RV resort and the next two will be a day trip to Death Valley and a day trip to Valley of Fire state park in NV.

Terrible's is located about three miles outside the town of Pahrump,NV.
This park is very well maintained, we had a nice pull thru site with full hookups. There is a lake in the middle of the park and a variety of ducks are there enjoying it. The park has alot of old machinery through out the park to give it a nice touch. The sites have a cement pad extended out in the picnic area. Campfires are allowed if you bring your own firepit and it has legs so it is off the ground. Nice view of the mountains. The Resort has a casino and restaurant and buffet. The food is good and we ate there every night. Several TV stations from Las Vegas can be picked up by the roof antenna. Cell service is good and my netcard worked well. Wifi is available for a fee.

Thanksgiving 2009 @ Doheny SB

2009-11-29T14:55:00.000-08:00

Well we have just returned from four days, including Thanksgiving at Doheny SB. I won't review the campground here as we have stayed there before and have reviewed it in an earlier blog.
We arrived at the campground Wednesday night after work. It was dark when we got there but we have been there before so it wasn't so bad setting up in the dark. Don't usually like setting up after dark as it is pretty easy to kiss a tree or something.

Thursday morning was nice and sunny and temps are supposed to get into the 80's for the day. Early morning coffee and take Buddee for a walk so Robin can sleep in a little.

Soon Robin is getting stuff together for breakfast and the temp is warming up to be a great day. A little R&R around the campsite and enjoying the ocean and it is time to get the Turkey and fixings together for a 4pm dinner. We had a friend join us and she brought candied yams and coleslaw. Robin had deboned the turkey so it fit nicely in the oven. The turkey was nested on the top of dressing. This was the first time using the oven for something as large as the turkey and it worked just fine. After dinner everyone relaxed in the sunshine and napped.

Friday Robin had to be at work so the kids, dogs, and I spent the day napping and people watching and enjoying the sunshine as it was another nice day. Robin got back from work and we enjoyed turkey leftovers for dinner. Friday night the weather turned colder and we had some rain over night, some pretty heavy at times.

Saturday the day started cooler and the rain moving off to the south. The sun was warm but the wind remained cool for the day.
Saturday night we had a campfire and went inside and played some cards and off to bed.

Sunday morning is was time to call and end to a wonderful weekend and head back to the work week. We had a great time.

South Carlsbad SB, Carlsbad, Ca

2009-11-15T20:00:00.000-08:00

View all

Get your own

This weekend we had the pleasure of staying at this campground for the first time. We were surprised that we hadn't heard more good things about it.
This San Diego beach features swimming, surfing, skin diving, fishing and picnicking. The large bluff top campground is very popular, especially in summer. Stairs lead to the beach.
We were in the loop of sites 130 to 222. There were sites on each side of the road, we had one located on the bluff side of the road. The sites are wide and small trees separated the sites from each other. Very private. This is a no hookup campground but they have bathrooms and pay showers. We did not check them out as we have all that on board.
The slideshow I have added will give you idea of the size of some of the sites. Some sites were not very deep but ours was deep enough we could have put another MH in it. I fact we saw one that had a 5er and a class "C" on each side of the same site and still had room between them.

A description of the beach:
South Carlsbad is on the Southern California coast between Oceanside and San Diego. The sand lies below the bluffs. Up above is the state campground. There is good swimming here. You can also fish, surf and snorkel.

At the campground at the top of the stairs there is a small grocery convenience store, beach rentals, restrooms and showers. The 226 campsites are on the bluff overlooking the blue Pacific. Try to get one on the ocean side. You take the stairs down to the beach below.
Hope you enjoy the pictures.

Grizzly and Wolf Center, West Yellowstone, MT

2009-11-01T17:40:00.000-08:00

This is kind of out of sequence as I should have posted this with the Yellowstone trip. It is interesting enough to post it so I will do so now. I have linked their website in the title of the post so you can see for yourself how important this center is to the grizzly and grey wolf. If you are ever in the area be sure to stop and go though the center, it is well worth it.

The Grizzly & Wolf Discovery Center offers every visitor to Yellowstone a chance to uniquely experience
the world of grizzly bears and gray wolves. All the animals at the Center are unable to survive in the wild
and serve as ambassadors for their wild counterparts.

Please click on the link to see all of things they do. We took several pictures of the two grizzlies at their feeding time. Awesome to watch. The grey wolves were napping at the time we were there so not many pictures of them.
Enjoy the slideshow.

San Clemente SB Camping 10-25-09

2009-10-25T18:43:00.000-07:00

Since 1937 San Clemente has been one of the most popular beaches in California. A dramatic setting and invigorating air satisfy its many visitors, whatever their interest, energy level or state of mind. The mile long beach stretches between the curling ocean surf and the foot of a steep bluff. Midway between Los Angeles and San Diego, the park attracts water sports enthusiasts and those seeking respite from the inland heat or an escape from nearby metropolitan areas.
Hot showers, flush toilets
Dump station
RV sites include water, electrical, and sewage hookups
Verizon cell phone and air card worked very well.
This was our first stay at this beach. We had Site#70 almost down at the end of the first row. Some of the sites have shade trees and some don't. Ours did not. There are a few sites, 61 thru 65, that you can actually see the ocean through a small canyon. Even though there is no ocean view it is very accessible with a short hike down the bluff to the sand. The sites are nice sized, pretty level and clean. Table and campfire ring at each site.
We really enjoyed the weekend, the site was roomy and the weather very nice, sunny and 70's.
Since it was close to Halloween there were Trick and Treaters making the rounds on Saturday evening. A friend, Judy, joined us for the day and happened to have some candy so we weren't left candiless with all the kids. It was fun to watch the kids and everyone.
The night had some freeway noise, but we are city folk so it didn't keep us up. We will be returning over New Years and Easter. I would recommended this campground to anyone.

Off topic, I added a couple of cool cars we saw at the Pomona RV Show.
Enjoy.

San Antonio Lake (SAL) Rally

2009-10-12T14:46:00.000-07:00

This last weekend we went to a rally at San Antonio Lake, North of Paso Robles in Central California. We don't normally go to rallies but we hooked up with this one a couple of years ago and the people were so nice that we have been going back every year. Actually they have the rally twice a year, first in Feb and again in Oct. Some of the same people are there every time and some are new people checking it out. Here is a little info on the area where we meet:

Lake San Antonio - South Shore
Camping
Lake San Antonio South Shore offers hundreds of first come, first serve hook-ups and regular sites on a 24 hour basis. You can enter any time but if you are leaving that day you must vacate your site by 2:00 p.m. and leave the park by sunset.

Three RV and camping areas (Redonda Vista, Lynch and Harris Creek Campground) with 500 sites are available at South Shore for individuals, families and groups.

In Feb we stay at this campground:
Redonda Vista Campground
This campground is located about a mile from the shoreline and includes 86 hook-up campsites with water, electricity and sewer and 173 regular campsites with water, picnic tables and barbeque's.

In Oct we stay at this campground
Harris Creek Campground
This campground is popular year-round because it is conveniently located close to the lake. It includes 91 regular campsites with water, picnic tables and barbeque's.

It is easy to see several groups of mule deer grazing at different times of the day and even Turkeys on a few occasions. The campsites are good sized and allow for room for your RV and tow the setting is grassy with trees and some views of the lake. The marina has a small store and a place to launch your boat. They also rent small houseboats and fishing is also allowed. In the spring of the year there are tours of the lake and eagles can be spotted along the shore.

The Rally is a small rally compared to some. It is usually comprised of people who follow the RV.net forums for RV'ers. This rally is hosted by a very nice lady, Judy, and her husband, Ray. They have a agenda set up ahead of time. We vote on food selection ahead of time and usually have a group meal on Friday and Saturday nite. On this rally we had the meat of our choice for Friday night and some of us brought side dishes and some of us brought the dessert. On Saturday night the meat was tri-tip that was cooked by some of the "Boys" from the group. It was great. Robin was busy with her Dutch Oven all weekend, Friday night she had a potato and cheese,bacon dish, yum! Saturday morning it was cinnamon goodies, and one of group made banana pancakes. Saturday night is was a Dutch Apple Carmel dessert. OH BOY!!!. Needless to say we didn't go hungry.

Hope everyone enjoys the pictures.

I have included a link to the rally organizer's (Judy) pictures as she took alot more than I did.

RV.net Rally>

Beartooth and Chief Joseph Hwy

2009-09-14T15:29:00.000-07:00

This was not the experience that we were quite expecting when we started this journey. We started early in the morning as we had to drive to the northeast entrance of Yellowstone park to start up the mountain. What we didn't expect was the endless road construction going on all the way up the mountain on the Wyoming side. There were several times we had to be escorted from one point to the next. Most of the outlooks were filled with heavy equipment. The pictures we got were pretty awsome but we didn't really have the time to get out and embrace the wide open spaces of the feeling of being in suspended time, I have been told by some that is what it feels like. I hope you enjoy the pictures.

Yellowstone-Fall-2009

2009-09-14T15:18:00.000-07:00

Well we have returned for our much awaited trip to Yellowstone. This is our third year for this adventure, though our first in the fall of the year.
We have never been disappointed in what we see in the park.
The scenery and animals are just amazing. I don't think there is anything, that I have seen, any more breathtaking. I know there are many beautiful sights to see is this amazing country of ours but I will have to wait to be able to see them.
For those of you who have not had the opportunity to see this park, I hope you get to at least just once.
I think I will let the pictures do the talking, although I don't think even the pictures do it justice.

Day in The Tetons

2009-09-07T17:29:00.000-07:00

We started out early in the morning with a boat ride across Jackson Lake to an island to have a cowboy breakfast. The early morning sky was clearer than the day before. We had a couple of rain showers during the night but we were blessed with a nice clear and bright morning. It is really hard to get a picture to show the awesome views with a hazy sky. The breakfast was pretty good but it wouldn't have mattered what we ate with the view we had. Menu consisted of eggs, sausage, county hash browns, muffins, french toast and coffee.

We got back from breakfast and spent the rest of the driving around checking out all the views of the Tetons and went into Jackson Hole for lunch. If you are ever in Jackson you need to stop at Bubba's BBQ for some of their pulled beef briskit. YUM!

Tomorrow we are headed for Yellowstone for hopefully many animal sightings
Hope you enjoy the pictures

Logan UT to The Tetons

2009-09-06T21:26:00.000-07:00

We started out about 8am from Traveland RV Park in Logan UT. Nice park to overnight, pull thru sites, FHU, free wifi, and cable. If you ever have a chance to take Hwy 89 between Logan and Garden City take it. It is a beautiful drive along the Logan River. Of course that may be just my opinion because I have been driving the
I15 for two days.
We got into Colter Bay RV park about 2:30 and set up. If you haven't been here it is nestled in the pines near Jackson Lake. We went down to the Marina and reserved two seats on the breakfast cruise on the lake. Of course that means we have to get up early in th morning.
We went for a drive down by the lake and the dam. We encountered our first moose sighting at Moose Junction (of course where else would it be).
It never ceases to amaze us as the beauty of the country side as you drive along. I know why they call it "God's Country" because nobody else could have created something so beautiful. Well I am signing off for tonight, enjoy the pictures.

First travel day to Yellowstone

2009-09-04T18:36:00.000-07:00

Well here we are at the KOA in Cedar City, UT.
Not to much in the way of pictures, driving through the desert is pretty boring. We did take a couple of the Virgin River Gorge as we were coming up the grade.

We got underway at 4am this morning, stopped in Barstow Flying J for gas and breakfast. Actually got through Vegas without much trouble. Got into Cedar City about 2pm. There are thunder showers and a nice breeze this evening. It was a 105 degrees coming through the gorge. Will be to bed early and try to get going by 8am.

Refugio State Beach

2009-08-09T15:07:00.000-07:00

Refugio State Beach offers excellent coastal fishing as well as trails and picnic sites. Palm trees planted near Refugio Creek give a distinctive look to the beach and camping area. A bike trail along the beach bluff connects the beach with El Capitán State Beach, 2.5 miles east. This beach is unique among Santa Barbara beaches. Many locals find that they come here rather than other beaches closer to town. It just feels different than the others. It might be the abundance of picnic tables and grills or maybe its all the quirky little palms that dot the thin strip of border grass. It could also be the camp grounds that bump right against the beach.

The campground is more primative than I expected. If you are going to setup your chairs on the sand and spend the day in the ocean or on the sand any site in this loop will work. If you are like us and just like to sit close to the water and people watch and view the ocean you will want an end site in the loop. We had site#35 and I think it was the best because when we were backed in the door opened to the site and to the view of the ocean. There were alot of tent campers and the campgrounds allowed clothes lines and towels and bathsuits hanging on them. So some of the campsites looked a little messy and crowded. The people were all friendly, the site behind us with the vintage tent turned out to be neighbors of one of Robin's aunt's when they lived in Sierra Madre so we had a nice visit with them and shared Robin's dessert with them.

This was Robin's first experience with dutch oven cooking and as you can see from the slideshow it was a huge success. She really enjoyed that style of cooking. I am sure I will be on the receiving end on lots more dutch oven cooking.

It was a great weekend the weather was sunny, the wind sometimes a little cool. Good food, good ocean views, and good neighbors made for a great weekend

Serrano Campground, Big Bear Lake, Ca

2009-07-22T13:00:00.000-07:00

Serrano Campground is located in the San Bernardino mountains, near the town of Big Bear. This campground is situated in a mountain setting in a pine forest and near Big Bear Lake. Popular activities include hiking, mountain biking, boating and fishing. Big Bear Lake, California is a fresh-water lake seven miles long and a mile wide, at an altitude of 6,750 to 9,000 feet.

The National Forest Service's Serrano Campground features 132 camping sites that can be used by tents, RV's, pop-up campers, pickup trucks with camper shells, vans, etc. RVer's should note that there are 29 campsites which offer electrical (30 amp), water and sewer hookups. There is an RV dump station.

We really enjoyed the weekend @ Serrano in Big Bear. The campground was booked and they say they usually are so you need to make reservations early. We stayed in the Evening Star loop with no hookups. The campsites were large and the one we had was shaded all day. They have a cement slab to park on but they are not level. The campground is within walking distance to the lake in fact one of the loops is very close but the sites are smaller and closer together. The loop with the hookups was called Snowberry. I would say the about 75% of the campground was filled with tents and the other 25% a mixture of trailers, MH, and FW.

The mixture of rain and sun we had for the weekend was very refreshing, considering it was 90+ degrees when we left Anaheim on Friday. If I was to rate this campground it would be an 8. If we had hookups and wifi it would have been a 10. We will definitely be staying here again.

Verizon cell phone and netcard good signal.

Hope you enjoy the slideshow.

Fourth of July 2009 Guajome Park Campgrounds

2009-07-05T18:21:00.000-07:00

Guajome Regional Park is located in the coastal community of Oceanside and has a little bit of everything that San Diego County offers. A developed 33 sites campground offers partial hook ups, a caravan pavilion, shade and afternoon ocean breezes. Two day use areas with new playgrounds, a basketball court and lots of green lawn are ideal for picnicking or just relaxing. Two ponds attract a wide variety of migratory birds and serve as home to a variety of fish that will test the skills of any angler. 4.5 miles of park trails meander through diverse Southern California habitats such as woodlands, chaparral, wetlands, and mixed grasslands.

We spent the weekend at the campgrounds over the Fourth of July weekend. This is a very sleepy campground. It is a nice place to catch on your reading, go for quiet walks or just taking catnaps in the afternoon. We were at site# 9 which had lots of shade. We did spend a very relaxing weekend. I hope you enjoy the slideshow.

Santee Lakes 2009

2009-06-21T19:37:00.000-07:00

Santee Lakes is located near San Diego, Ca. The campground is part of the Padre Dam Municipal water district, San Diego, Ca. It has a large day use area along with several camping areas that are located around the seven lakes. It is a very nice campground with very clean and roomy sites. Not all of their campsites are on the lake.
The site we had was perfect, on the lake and the free wifi they offered has excellant signal.

We left home on Friday afternoon and arrived at the campground about 3pm. The sun was shining and in no time we were sitting out enjoying the ducks and the sunshine.
Saturday turned out to be a day without sun but the temperature was comfortable. We lazed around the campsite all day and watched the various species of water fowl. We enjoyed an early evening campfire while listening to the Angels baseball game of XM radio.

Sunday I got up and walked Buddee to the nearby newspaper stand and picked up a Sunday paper to enjoy with my morning coffee, as Robin caught another snooze. On Sunday we had to pack up and head back to the grind of the weekday workday that were fast approaching. Of course without the work weekdays there would be no camping weekends.

Morro Bay April 2009

2009-06-09T20:51:00.000-07:00

We spent the weekend at Morro Bay in the Morro Bay State Campground. The area is a treasure trove of state bird esturaries and protected marsh land. It's is a beautiful area.

Memorial Weekend 2009 at Coloma on the American River

2009-06-09T18:14:00.000-07:00

We left early Wed May 20th for a extended Memorial Weekend on the American River @ Coloma RV Resort, Coloma, Ca. located behind Sutters Mill off the Old 49er trail, Hwy 49. It was a beautiful weekend with weather temp's in the upper 80's and low 90's. The water temp of the river was said to be in the upper 40's. I did not check it to verify. It was a lazy weekend of river watching with people rafting, canoeing and inner tubing on the river. Great weekend.