We had ambitious plans for March. First going to San Diego Padres Spring Training in Peoria, Az for three days then heading to northern Arizona and Utah. Unfortunately, like February, the weather became a factor and all our northward plans to Page, to Monument Valley, to Flagstaff, to Lake Havasu, ending in Desert Hot Springs were cancelled. The unprecedented heavy snows this winter were still a factor especially on the route through Flagstaff. More snow & rain were forecast on our Mar 19 travel day.
I didn’t feel safe towing Howie north through Flagstaff even with plowed roads and chains. Alternate routes were just as bad or take too long and disrupt the schedule. Rain was forecast on our Upper Antelope Canyon (slot canyon) tour date. Monument Valley’s nightly temperatures were in the 20s, so we reluctantly decided to stay in southern Arizona and visit Saguaro National Park. Those northern destinations are still on our to-do list but later in the season.
16 Apr 2023 – Driving to Ehrenberg, AZ
Towing Howie to Phoenix in one shot is doable but not the way we prefer to travel. So we booked an overnight layover at the California-Arizona border, in Ehrenberg, Az. We considered boondocking since it’s not far from Quartzsite. But one night at River Sands RV Resort using our Passport America membership was only $35. Planning our one night layover here was fortuitous because the predicted 4 hour drive took over 9 hours because of a major fatality accident on the I-10 near Cabazon, CA. The traffic speeds were under 5mph for miles so it took hours till the road opened up in Palm Springs. We didn’t arrive to the border till 9pm – finding a boondocking site at night would have been tough. River Sands is just off the I-10, the first exit in Arizona. There’s also a Flying J Travel Center at the same exit.
River Sands RV Resort opened Jan 2023 and everything – restrooms (several large private, individual rooms w/ shower & toilet), pool-hot tub, clubhouse w/ pool/ping-pong/chess/foosball tables, full hook-ups – are all brand new. The resort is well laid out with hundreds of spacious RV sites along the Colorado River on the Arizona-side. The space to manuever a travel trailer & back-in is phenomenal plus there are many pull-thru sites. All the RV sites are wide and level. There was a meet-up of an AirStream group coincidentally so our section was filled with 48 all aluminum RVs and us.
My only ‘concern’ is there aren’t any trees or shade of any kind. So when it gets hot, there isn’t any protection other than jumping into the river. Still, we definately will stop here again when we have more time or want a winter get-away that’s (typically) 4-hours from home.
17-19 Apr 2023 – Desert’s Edge RV Resort
With our late arrival at River Sands RV Resort, they were kind enough to give us a 1pm checkout time so we could explore the place. With a 2 hour drive to Phoenix/Peoria, we didn’t want to arrive before the 2pm check-in at Desert’s Edge RV Resort. But after the unexpected driving delay yesterday, we left at noon so we’d be sure to make it to Phoenix before our night game started.
When trying to find a RV site for Spring Training, I think we got the last spot near Peoria. Our ‘pull-thru’ site right in front of the office was just big enough for our 20ft travel trailer & truck – there was no extra space. Desert’s Edge RV Resort is in northern Phoenix, about 12mi from the Peoria Sports Complex where the Padres play. This park definitely caters to Spring Training visitors with all the ‘streets’ named for teams that train in the area. With the change in our trip after Spring Training, we hoped to stay an extra day but this park is booked solid in Spring. After 3 days of Spring Training baseball, we headed south to Tucson.
