We scheduled one more stop before heading home – Yuma, AZ. We actually stayed in Winterhaven at Encore/Thousand Trails Pilot Knob RV Resort ~10mi from Yuma. I wanted to photograph the Imperial Sand Dunes, specifically the dunes in the North Algodones Dunes Wilderness Area. This RV park is about an hour from the dunes wilderness area. We have stayed at a few Thousand Trails/Encore RV parks and they are usually pretty nice, with many amenities. This one was really barebones, a gravel ‘parking-lot’ with only a few shaded spots. Because there were plenty of sites, we found one with a little shade but enough sky for Starlink. If we were to stay in the area again, I would probably try the Rivers Edge RV Resort. We drove into Yuma several times for fuel (much cheaper), shopping, and meals so staying on that side of the CA/AZ border is more convenient. There is an interesting point-of-interest directly across the 8 freeway – the Center of the World Museum. We are going to check it out tomorrow before heading to the dunes. Photographing the dunes later in the day is usually more interesting – early in the day or late in the day improves the shadow/hightlights.
One of most popular trails in east Tucson, according to AllTrails and other online hiking sites, is the Tanque Verde Falls Trail in the Coronado National Forest. It is rated ‘moderate’ by Alltrails and only ~2 miles out & back. We found this to be a really challenging hike. There wasn’t an obvious trail by the river, perhaps, because the water level was higher than normal due to the rainy/snowy winter. Working our way up the river required a lot of rock scrambling, which we expect, with strong current water-crossings.
The trail down to the river is an easy-to-follow dirt trail that brings you down to a flat rocky plateau next to the river. But once you reach this spot, the ‘trail’ a hundred yards upstream becomes a scramble or criss-crossing the river. You can choose to go over boulders, cross the river, or hike high along a ridge. But any path can end abruptly into brambles or a scramble up or down. We managed to make it to the very last bend before the falls but were unable to make it to the falls. The only way to continue was to climb a 10ft wall. It had decent handholds but it was already a work-out to get to this point . We had to save enough energy to make it back and hike our way up the hill. Perhaps later in the season when the water level was lower or hiking some sections in the river, like the ‘Narrows’, would have been easier. But we watched other hikers have similar problems – picking a route then back-tracking to an alternative – it wasn’t just our unfamiliarity with the trail. It was a beautiful day to hike and the area is awesome with many pools to cool off. But be aware the trail is a rock-scramble when the water level covers the shoreline and you may have to make your own route.
The weather continued to be cool and rainy but great for hiking and photography. Saguaro National Park East appears to have more hiking trails than the west. There’s also a popular scenic drive loop through the park that has many pull-outs and trailheads. I thought the terrain was more interesting than the valley of the national park west. Along the trails, there were more wildflowers and changes in elevation. We enjoyed the scenic drive while it rain, stopping at a few scenic spots.
When we had stopped at the Visitor Center for a trail map. We overheard the park ranger recommend the Garwood Trail to another group of hikers wanting an uncrowded hike. This trail is part of several trails on the northern edge of the park which includes Douglas Spring, Converse, Wildhorse Loop. On one of the bends of the Garwood Trail, 1.5mi from the trailhead, is a rare crested saguaro cactus. It became somewhat of a scavenger hunt for us since the crude map from the visitors center, where he drew an X, was not to scale. Trail markers were also confusing since many different trails criss-cross the Garwood Trail. So we wondered if we had missed it but we continued along the trail and finally found this beautiful, unusual cactus – definitely worth the hike.
The rain has pretty much stopped so hike conditions were pretty good – cool but not muddy. The rain added to the photography by saturating the colors and adding water droplets. We did a lot of closeup photos.
Along the main road, we spotted another crested saguaro. It wasn’t nearly as intricately detailed as the Garwood Trail cactus. Perhaps in ~20 more years it will develop the flowery lobes. It was on someone’s property so not part of Saguro National Park East.
We read that Saguaro National Park West is more popular than the East so we visited here first. With winter rains generating large patches of wildflowers in California and Arizona. Our first stop was just over the ridge dropping into Saguaro National Park West valley on W.Picture Rock Road. The Cam-Boh/Ringtail trailhead was covered in Mexican Poppies and a colorful start to the trail. Further along, the wildflowers densities faltered, mainly concentrated in the shadow of Mt. Picture Rocks. So we cut our hike short after taking some wildflower photos. We had just started and wanted to head further into the valley.
Oddly, as you continue west on W.Picture Rock Road, you exit the park. Entering from the east on W Gates Pass Road or the south on S Kinney Road are probably better ways to enter the park. W Gates Pass Road take you past the scenic overlook and both roads take you by Old Tucson. W Picture Rock Road skirts the northern edge before you head south to the Saguaro National Park West (aka Red Hills) Visitor Center. There isn’t a lot of infrastructure in this national park. There are restrooms at the Visitor Center and Sonora Desert Museum, which also has a cafe. Fortunately, we stopped at a Speedway gas station w/ Subway sandwich shop & grabbed a sandwich before our hike. Most of Saguaro National Park West is in the valley west of Tucson. There are hills surrounding the park carpeted with Saguaro and other cacti. Apparently, the density of Saguaro is a lot lower than when the park was founded but they are still abundant. We picked the short Valley View Overlook Trail to see the panoramic view of Saguro National Park West. It was an easy hike with only ~50ft elevation gain.
With unpredictable weather north of Phoenix, we decided to head south to Tucson. Our bucket-list of visiting all the national parks did not have a check mark next to Saguaro National Park. Plus the weather and driving conditions were noticeably better heading south. We book three nights at the Tucson/Lazydays KOA primarily for its location. Saguaro National Park is split into east & west sections about 30mi apart, separated by Tucson. The KOA was about midway so we planned to visit the west park Tuesday then hike the east park Wednesday. The easy, scenic drive from northern Phoenix to southern Tucson was a ~2.5hrs. We passed Picacho Peak State Park, surrounded by wildflowers, and added it to our list of places to visit next time. It’s midway between Phoenix and Tucson and it’s distinctive peak has some challenging trails. Plus it’s in a ‘dark-sky’ area so would be great for astrophotography. March is a great time to visit Tucson and Saguaro NP but it was overcast with scattered showers two of the days we were there. The Tucson/Lazydays KOA is huge with a variety of RV sites ranging from covered pull-thrus ($110+/ni) to small back-in sites. There’s actually a BBQ restaurant-bar on-site so after we pulled-in and setup. We stopped there for BBQ & beer.
We had time to catch an Arizona sunset so an hour before, we headed to Gates Pass Scenic Outlook towards west Saguaro National Park. This is supposed to be the best place around town to catch the sunset. Being popular, it was recommended we get there early so we could find a parking space in the overlook’s small lot. With the overcast skies, we were not predicting a spectacular sunset. But the clouds were clear at the horizon so I hoped the sun might break through before disappearing behind the mountains. Not spectacular, but the sun did shine through for a short time just above the horizon.
Heading to Peoria in March has become an annual Spring getaway. Except for the Covid year off, we’ve made it tos see Padres Spring Training the last several years. This year, we decided to combine our usual long baseball weekend in March, with a RV trip. Since we are in Arizona, why not spend some time exploring in our RV after Peoria. As mentioned, our plans shifted due to the continued bad weather in northern Arizona and southern Utah. The three days of baseball were fun and we got a chance to see this year’s roster up close and personal. Although Fernando Tatis isn’t back into the line-up till April 20. He is playing & practicing during Spring Training.
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.
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.
Finding a campsite for 3 days at Anza-Borrego State Park, even during the week, is challenging during peak season (Oct-May). Desert spaces are extremely popular during the winter, especially around Joshua Tree and Anza-Borrego. Fortunately, we found a spot at the Palm Canyon Hotel and RV Resort for 3 nights. It was a very different experience than last year when we dry-camped inside the park. This place has full hookups and is just west of downtown Borrego Springs. But for our first trip of 2023, we were happy just to be back on the road. We were hoping to see wildflowers everywhere but the ‘better-than-usual’ bloom was near its end. Update: starting the day we headed home, there has been a week of continual rain and cold weather. So there will be a bunch of new blooms and if it turns into a Spring Superbloom, we’ll day-trip from Oceanside.
Borrego Palm Canyon (Our only hike)
We hiked the Borrego Palm Canyon trail our first morning in Borrego Springs. This has become one of our favorite hikes in the area – a 3-4mi easy hike with a potential Bighorn Sheep encounter (often at ~1130am near the trailhead). It’s a great hike to start the year. The Bighorn Sheep did appear but I unfortunately made the poor choice of taking the alternate trail back to the parking lot. The Bighorn Sheep were on the main trail so we only got a ‘tail-end glimpse’. I should have listened to Carol’s suggestion to hike the main trail back. The alternate trail meanders along the west side of the canyon and is the less-traveled trail. These particular sheep do not seem to mind being around people and are not skiddish. They might be the same group we saw last year, in nearly the same spot, same time of day (noonish).
Anza-Borrego State Park Visitor Center posts wildflower locations (online as well)
There were wildflowers scattered around Borrego Springs/Anza-Borrego State Park when we visited. This was our first trip to specifically view them. But the weather was not our friend with high winds forecast for Tuesday afternoon through Wednesday. Now we are familiar with high winds around Desert Hot Springs and Indio because we have family there and visit often. But the winds that blew through this trip were extreme, unlike any we’ve ever encountered. So strong, they snapped the poles providing power to Borrego Springs. The miles of toppled power lines caused a regional power-outage all the way to La Quinta. We had a nervous night trying to sleep in our wind-blown 20ft travel trailer. The wind break of trees and small slope behind our site helped but it was still an experience we won’t soon forget. The power went out Tues around midnight and didn’t come back till after midnight Wednesday. Because the power outage disabled the two gas stations in Borrego Spring. Wednesday became a search for gasoline since we needed to refuel before our Thurs departure. Not knowing when power might be restored, we ended up driving to Red Earth Casino, about 40mi, to fuel up. The other consequence of the storm was the snow level had dropped to ~2000ft so chains were required on our planned route home. So we ended up driving the long way back through Palm Springs to avoid the continuing stormy weather and ice. Thursday morning the winds had slackened but it was raining hard, even hailing. We made it home without incident and Howie handle the craziness without issue. This is the first time we’ve encountered these kind of conditions so it was good it happened on a short trip near home. Our preparedness for such a situation is okay – Howie has batteries and a solar panel. But we need to keep some fresh water in our tanks & be able to dry-camp even when we are staying at a full hookup campground.
Our first trip of 2023 was supposed to be to Agua Caliente County Park Jan 2 2023 but we had to cancelled to help family. Which ended up being less disappointing because it rained the entire week and that area is prone to flash floods.
So we postponed our first RV trip to February, combining a family visit to Desert Hot Springs & a few days at Anza-Borrego State Park, to hopefully see wildflowers. With all the rain in southern California this season, the potential for a ‘better-than-usual’ (but not quite ‘superbloom’) wildflower bloom is anticipated. We stayed at the Palm Springs/Joshua Tree KOA, which is close to our family in Desert Hot Springs. KOAs campgrounds are very family oriented with lots of activities for kids and adults. The Palm Springs/Joshua Tree KOA is especially family-friendly with mini golf, pickelball, bike/pedal car rentals, and a ‘kiddie train’ that loops through the park. We did not spend much time at the park since we were here to spend time with family. But we did enjoy the 3 different temperature (104°, 100°, 98°) hot springs hot tubs one evening which was wonderful. We plan to make this KOA a regular stop when we pass this way with Howie.
KOA Entrance Dillon RoadKOA OfficeNice pool fed by the hot springsMiniature GolfPickleball CourtBasketball & general play areaNice site with shade/windbreakHot SpringsWelcome to the Desert SunsetRoomy KOA roadway
Our main family outing was to the Riverside County Fair in Indio which happened to coincide with our visit. We are not much for carnival rides but walking around the fairgrounds and people-watching is always fun. Plus there were probably a hundred diverse food booths serving up the usual ‘unusual’ unhealthy but delicious fair-food.
Rides I’ll probably never go onBusy placeHimalayan with Susan & BellaDCIM100GOPROG0143898.JPGPokemon booth (for Ronan)Pig Hurdle RaceAre photo booths still a thing w/ young people?Barbara finally popped a balloon & won a unicornBeautiful day to enjoy the fairgrounds
Next stop, a 90min drive to Palm Canyon RV Resort, Borrego Springs CA. One big plus of this RV resort is they allow check-in at 12:30. Which is perfect with an 11am departure at the KOA.
We’ve been taking trips around the western USA in our 20ft travel trailer Howie for over two years. I find myself relying on the same websites, apps and navigation tools to help get to where we are going. Here are a few of my favs as of Feb 2023:
Trip Planning
recreation.gov app & recreation.gov – the must-visit website/app for planning a trip to a National Park. Camping, lodging, tickets, passes, permits, and even day-use passes can be bought or reserved here. We have a lifetime America the Beautiful pass ($80) and we’ve enjoyed getting into national parks for free.
Roadpass.com & app: although TogoRV,com-related websites & apps have free & trial versions. A Roadpass Pro subscription is one of the few I have. It gives me access to all the features of TogoRV-related websites & apps such as:
Roadtrippers – which has become my favorite desktop and mobile trip-planning tools
Campendium – is a great campground search tool & the pro features are included with a Roadpass Pro subscription. During a regional search, it’s map displays all the campsites, rv dump sites, state & county campgrounds, and dispersed (free) campgrounds. It can check for site availability & often take you to a booking portal. I use this and GoodSam to find campgrounds since we prefer hookups vs dry-camping/boondocking.
TogoRV.com & app – general RV information, maintenance reminders, discounts on products and campsites. If you follow RVMiles on YouTube, you can stay current on RV news, RV app news, and often get a discount code for the annual subscription ($10 off). TogoRV GPS app provides navigation that considers weight limits, overhead clearances, grades of terrain, and your route preferences to give you turn-by-turn directions specific to your RV.
GoodSam app & GoodSam.com – When we started RVing, I bought a multi-year membership from Camping World. It’s 10% discount on campsites has more than paid for itself over the past two years. I will very likely renew it this August, when it expires. GoodSam has a reliable campground review and rating system along with booking site portals.
FlattestRoute – is a free website that let’s you enter your start and end point and calculates the flattest route. It’ also works’s also great for bicycle route planning. It calculates & scores the different routes using a point system based on incline %grade, duration, & distance. I still prefer InRoute but this can show you some alternate options.
KOA app & .com: we’ve enjoyed staying at KOA campgrounds during our trips. They usually have available sites when others don’t, nice amenities, plus with a membership, are affordable. The only ‘quirky’ thing about KOAs is often their name vs location. They are named for nearby destination spots but are often many miles away. Monterey/Santa Cruz KOA is ~32mi away from Monterey; St.George KOA is 15mi from St. George; Joshua Tree KOA is 37mi away from Joshua Tree’s west entrance, 53mi away from the north entrance. Still, if you compare the KOA location vs your desired destination(s). You can decide if it’s worth the drive – campsite availability often decides for you.
Navigation (and Route-planning)
InRoute – free iPhone app that helps route planning AND navigation. The free version allows 8 locations and the subscription version allow 150 locations (destination, attractions on-route, waypoints, gas stations, etc). I find the 8 points adequate since I only use it for identifying the route that has the lowest elevations/inclines and least curvy. If you have more than 8 waypoints, you can break your trip into groups of 8. Like other RV navigation apps, it plans the optimal RV-friendly routes with height clearances (based on your RV height setting), no tolls, & no propane restrictions. I have yet to find another mobile app that graphically shows the elevation & curviness plus distances & drive times of three alternate routes. It has audible turn-by-turn directions but if Apple Maps shows the same course, I usually use it, synced with my Apple Watch.
Google Maps – of course, this is a great route planning & navigation app but often chooses shortest vs the best RV-friendly routes. I made the mistake of doubting InRoute and used Google Maps to navigate to Ventura Ranch KOA. It took me on the shortest but curviest white-knuckle route possible. So I only use it when unhooked or its route matches InRoute’s.
Apple Maps – same situation as Google Maps, I do not use it for RV route-planning. I will use it when towing if the directions match InRoute’s. It’s great for general directions and it syncs with my Apple Watch. Giving me haptic turn reminders so I can keep my eyes on the road.
Hiking
AllTrails app & AllTrails.com or GaiaGPS– I have both AllTrails and GaiaGPS but primarily use AllTrails since it just works for me. I prefer its interface, downloadable offline maps & hike-tracking features, enough to subscribe to AllTrails+. If you hike, bike, or off-road in areas without cell service, these apps are essential. Downloading Google Maps for use offline is an affordable alternative. But it you like saving your trek, then using either of these apps is great for recording your actual path.
Garmin app & .com – we still use a Garmin Inreach Mini 2 GPS for its SOS feature. We know that our new iPhones have SOS but the tried-and-true Garmin’s battery lasts a lot longer & is a reliable two-way satellite communicator. So, for us, for now, it’s still clipped to our gear when we hike anywhere.
