When we take our travel trailer to Padres Spring Training, we like to extend our time away to explore Arizona or Utah. Last year, the late snow season around Flagstaff diverted us south to Tucson, instead to Page and Monument Valley. This time we headed north but did not travel as far & stayed at a lower elevation. We didn’t have as much time to travel & Camp Verde is 1.5hrs north of Phoenix. A very short travel day, and great when you only have a few days. There are only a few RV parks in Sedona and they are usually fully booked & expensive. So we reserved a spot 25mi south at Camp Verde at Verde Ranch RV Resort. We figured it was a short drive north to the Sedona area. Plus we could explore other places like Montezuma’s Castle along highways 17, 169 or 260.
Unfortunately, the rainy weather we had the first game in Phoenix, as still hanging around. So the five days we had in the area to hike & explore were often affected by rain.
Verde Ranch RV Resort is a CRR “Lifestyle” destination – associated with the River Sands RV Resort we’ve stayed at in Ehrenberg AZ. Like River Sands, this resort is fairly new, opening in August 2019. It has plenty of spaces, amenities, and activities. There are even covered spaces at the top of the hill with great views. One of these sites would be great during the heat of summer. But in March, our RV site at the bottom of the hill was fine. The Verde River runs through the northeast border of the resort and is a nice hike.
So far, we’ve stayed close to home most of 2024, with only a few short trips. Caring for our grandson has been a priority and we haven’t felt the ‘call of the road’. One trip early this year, was to San Diego Padres Spring Training in March. Our son, daughter-in-law, & grandson were going to Spring Training plus take a few more days to visit family in Arizona. So we had a long weekend for Padres Spring Training, then time to explore Camp Verde, Prescott & Sedona. This trip, we got a later start Thursday so instead of stopping at Ehrenberg, AZ. We stopped for the night at Lake Tamarisk Desert Resort in Desert Center, CA. It’s an interesting place – a well kept retirement (55+) community on a man-made lake & golf course. They have a few affordable, full-hookup spots available and their location. Being just east of Coachella, it was the perfect ‘day 1’ driving distance from Oceanside. The ‘town’ of Desert Center isn’t much, mainly abandoned buildings on Highway 10. It has an interesting history but is long past it’s heyday. Only the US Post Office building near the freeway off-ramp, and a few mobile/RV communities are well kept.
After the quick overnight stop, we drove 3hrs more to Phoenix Metro RV Park. We were lucky to get 3 weekend nights here during Spring Training. Spaces in Phoenix around Peoria are hard to come by but we got lucky.
We’ve been staying closer to home and taking shorter trips. So our RV trips are to locations that are within two-days travel from home. We were hoping that there might be Fall colors in the eastern Sierras based on some travel vlogs & Google searches. Plus some photographers in the UCSD Photography Interest Group have talked about their trips to the Alabama Hills in Lone Pine California. So we planned a short trip in mid-October, hoping to catch some Fall colors.
Since we often start our trips at noon, we prefer to keep our drives on day 1 to ~3hrs. Towing our travel trailer at ~55-60mph, especially through traffic, can be nerve-wracking. So we stopped about mid-way at Arabian RV Oasis in Boron CA. There aren’t many RV parks along highway 395 in this area. There are plenty of dispersed campsites but we prefer hookups. Oct 13th – Arabian RV Oasis was good for one night – not fancy, quiet and affordable.
My friends recommended Lone Pine/Alabama Hills as a great plan to hike, camp, & photograph. They camp at Tuttle Creek Campground or other BLM dispersed campgrounds in the Lone Pine area. We wanted hookups so we stayed at Boulder Creek RV Resort in south Lone Pine. It’s a really nice RV park near the Mt Whitney Portal and Alabama Hills with great amenities and location. There are plenty of places to camp but this is one of the only RV campgrounds with hookups in the area.
Entrance sign on 395View of the Eastern Sierras from the RV parkPool & hot tubRV site
Alabama Hills – we hiked multiple days in the Alabama Hills, checking out the various movie locations and many arches. Hikes are short, and easy, on hot & dusty level trails.
I saw a post about the 2023 Perseid Meteor Shower on Instagram. One of the best places to see this event in California is Joshua Tree National Park, a dark-sky area. But Joshua Tree is 105°F during the day in August. Regardless, all available campsites at Joshua Tree National Park were booked. Our last trip to Joshua Tree was the same way, so we stayed at TwentyNine Palms RV Resort. It’s located 3mi from the north entrance and usually has available sites with full hookups. Until we install or buy a RV with 12v A/C, we prefer to stay at a place with electrical hookups when it’s that hot. We do not want to run a gas/propane generator for hours to stay cool. Since we arrived before sunset on Friday Aug 11th, we drove into Joshua Tree to find a location to photograph the Milky Way. The Perseid Meteor Shower was already happening but peak viewing was Saturday, the next night. I wanted to photograph the Milky Way with Joshua Trees. So we stopped at Cap Rock and I found a Joshua tree foreground for my Milky Way photo along the southern trail. On our way out, we stopped at Skull Rock to watch shooting stars for an hour before heading to the RV. Since Saturday night was forecast to be peak viewing of the meteor shower. I focused on getting a Milky Way+Joshua Tree photo Friday night. Saturday, I’d spend photographing shooting stars with a star tracker.
As we were leaving Joshua Tree NP Friday night, we noticed many people had chairs & recliners that made star gazing more comfortable. So Saturday, our mission was to find two zero gravity recliners in Yucca Valley. We found the last two on clearance at Home Depot. Tip: definitely invest in zero gravity recliners if you plan on spending any serious time star gazing. Saturday, I wanted to do a hike before we setup for the meteor shower viewing. The temperature that evening was cool enough to hike the Heart Rock and Arch Rock Trail before it got dark. Turns out the area around the Arch Rock Trail parking lot would work for meteor shower viewing. Especially since we were lucky enough to grab one of the last parking spots. The lot was full and people were already setting up for meteor viewing when we arrived before sunset. Little did we know how CRAZY crowded Joshua Tree National Park would be tonight.
We saw an amazing display of shooting stars but not the hundred per hour predicted. I set up my Move Shoot Move star tracker and shot 2 minute exposures of the northeast sky and straight-up. After 3 hours of exposures from 2200-0100, ~90 frames, I was disappointed that the many shooting stars we saw were not in frame. This was my first try at star-tracked astrophotography and I was successful at polar alignment & tracking the stars. But successful astrophotography images are the result of practice & patience and I definitely need more of both. I didn’t want to interrupt the interval to check for successful capturing of what we were seeing. I thought the 14mm focal length was wide enough to catch the meteor trails. We packed it in a little after 0100, after 3 hours of star-gazing. Our RV park is still in the dark area so if the meteor shower improved at 0200. We could still watch from outside our RV. As we left the park, the line of cars to get in stretched the 3mi to the main road. Crazy that hundreds of people were just arriving at 0100. Regardless, we had a great time and were glad we got there early – the zero gravity recliners were a wonderful, comfortable way to star gaze. We’ll definitely make it a point to visit Joshua Tree at night often.
We packed up and departed 29Palms at 11am. Unfortunately, all the other thousands of people who came to Joshua Tree for the meteor shower were also heading West at that time. It took a few extra hours to get home because of the traffic.
It’s been increasing difficult to find a spur-of-the-moment RV site this year, especially affordable ones. Our weekday schedule has been busy and campgrounds on the weekend are all booked. So we felt lucky to find a few days at San Diego Metro KOA to take the grand-kids for a few nights of ‘urban RV camping’. This San Diego KOA is close to most of San Diego’s sights like Sea World and the San Diego Zoo but we were able to find plenty to do at the KOA.
They offer a nice list of daily activities for kids and families plus they have a great swimming pool. It’s large and mostly shallow so the kiddos spent a lot of time in the water. August was warm so cooling off in the pool was a great way to spend the day. The RV sites are also nicely shaded by trees so we did not need to run the A/C all the time. But these trees continually drop leaves and seed pods on Howie so I needed to sweep the roof before we left. The KOA has special events celebrating holidays & special times of the year, such as Fall Festivals, and Halloween. But there’s always something going on Monday-Saturday during the summer, like Movies under the Stars. Some activities were not operational – the Rock Climbing Wall or Surf Shack Shootout were closed while we were there. So refer to the activities calendar when you arrive to not miss something. Some of the activities that kept us busy:
Swimming pool – the kiddos can spend hours at the pool and the KOA had a Mermaid/Pirate-hosted pool party Saturday morning.
Barrel Train – throughout the morning & early afternoon, there is a barrel train that takes kids and adults around the perimeter of the resort for a fun, free five-minute ride.
Jumping pillows – the large jumping pillow get hot during mid-day but morning and evening bouncing is great fun and will expend loads of energy.
Bicycle rentals – if you didn’t bring bikes or want to try some fun bikes that you don’t have at home! They rent 3-wheel Fun Cycles, 4-wheel Peddle Carts, and 2-6 Person Surrey Bikes. Hour or half hour rentals.
Cotton Candy or Shaved Ice – these activities have a small fee but are a special treat!
Bike/Scooter Decorating – add streamers and balloon to your favorite mode of transportation
Scavenger Hunt – follow the clue sheet to find different locations & fun facts around the resort, take a selfie when you get there, and be awarded a free craft coupon.
Magic ShowBikes RentedPanning For CrystalsScavenger Hunt Task “Take A Goofy Selfie”Scavenger Hunt Task SelfieBarrel TrainSmoresTablet Time Before SmoresBarrel Train
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.
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.
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.
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.
