Saturday, April 29, 2017
Sky Valley Resort
We wanted to explore the Palm Springs area, but our week here coincided with a big country music festival, so our options for RV parks in the area was very limited. We booked the week at the Sky Valley Resort, which is a fairly typical 55+ retirement community. The park is filled with 90% park models for the snow bird crowd coming to the area to enjoy the warm weather, with the remaining sites for RVs. Our site was not good. The site was sand with a concrete pad measuring about 6x8 that was broken into dozens of pieces and unusable. Our site is considered a pull through premium site. In order to pull through the site, we needed to pull off the road, drive along the dirt access road along the back of the two adjacent sites. If we wanted to park our tow vehicle on our site, we needed to go off road to park behind our coach. Getting in and out was a 4x4 adventure.
The park has two club houses with pools, hot tubs and other amenities. The workout room was small and looks to be used very infrequently as many of the machines and benches were not in working condition. Dumbbells go up to 50 lbs, but no working benches to do much with them. There is a single bike, treadmill and eliptical machine. They have a small library and several meeting rooms for various activities. The club house was nice, clean and updates, save for the work out room.
Location, location, location. The park is 30 minutes away from Palm Springs and Palm Desert, which is not too bad, but the area is more than a little sketchy. We thought the GPS was taking in the wrong direction after we left I-10 because the area is so dilapidated.
We rate the resort a 2 out of 5 primarily because our site was so bad and the surrounding area.
Palm Springs
We had heard so much about the Palm Springs area that we were excited to see it. Our first foray into Palm Springs was not what we were expecting. The city is very retro and "alternative." Danelle loved the architecture and clothes stores that were vintage 70's and 80's. We started our sightseeing by doing a few quick hikes in the Coachella Valley Preserve seeing 100 year old + groves of palm trees around natural springs along the San Andreas fault. Later we took the tram to the top of the San Jacinto State Park for some amazing views of the Coachella valley. Our next day was spent at Joshua Tree, which is one of my favorite parks. We ended our sightseeing of the valley by driving into Indio to see the Polo grounds where they hold the Coachella music festival and a stop at the Salton Sea, which is a huge salt water lake in the valley that used to be a major water vacation destination in the 50's and 60's, but is now a deserted state park.
We enjoyed our time here, but are more than ready to get away from the wind and for a week at the beach. Newport Beach here we come...
Tuesday, April 25, 2017
Bryce Canyon and Zion National Parks
I always knew I wanted to see both of these national parks but I never could have anticipated how much these two parks would affect me. They are both gorgeous in their own rights. Breathtaking, unbelievable, awesome, etc......None of these words can express what you truly feel when you are among God's creation and you just let yourself be still and take it all in.
The first park we visited was Zion. Everyone has a different experience when visiting this park but ours seemed to be one of "commercialization". We found out, after we got there, that the week of Easter is one of their busiest times of the year. Boy, we couldn't agree more. The first day we got to the park was a little later in the day but you would think we were in DisneyWorld on Christmas morning! The line to get on the shuttle to get into the park (which you had to take) was about an hour long! When we finally did get into the park though, it was worth the wait. The canyon is just.....well....beyond words. We spent about 4 hours in the park that day, kind of getting the "lay of the land" and plotting what we wanted to go back and do. The narration on the shuttle bus talked about the hike to Angel's Landing and how it is pretty treacherous, that made Gary and I want to do it all the more. ;) When we got to the base of "Weeping Rock" we talked to the park ranger there and he suggested Observation Point. That hike takes you to the highest point in the park and it is about an 8 mile hike. That sounded like our speed so we made plans to do that one first. It did not disappoint but boy, was it ever crowded at the top! The views were amazing but I would have preferred to share them with maybe 10 other people instead of the 50 or so that were partying at the top. I guess I am just spoiled by my beloved Sawtooths and all the hiking we did there.
We decided to take a break from the crowds of Zion and travel a couple of hours to Bryce Canyon. Now this was more my speed. It was still crowded but nothing like Zion. The whole park reminded me of more of what I was used to. Evergreens and rocks, just like home. But then, you have the Hoodoos. Oh, the Hoodoos!! So completely beautiful!!! And the legend that goes along with them. I won't tell you the legend, you will have to visit to find out yourself. We spent the day viewing the canyon from all drivable angles and vowed to come back and hike among the Hoodoos, along the canyon floor.
The next time we visited Bryce was our hiking day. Gary and I had first planned to do a 2.5 mile hike but felt like we weren't going to see enough of the canyon so we picked our own trail that ended up being only 5 miles but we were able to see a good deal of the canyon and most of its highlights. It was absolutely other worldly to be able to touch the canyon walls and some of the Hoodoos. It is something I won't soon forget. Sometimes I would just stop along the trail to thank God that I was able to experience the place I was in.
After spending Easter going to mass and just taking it easy for the day, we wrapped up our trip to St. George by going back into Zion and hiking Angel's Landing. We were told so much about it that we thought we were prepared. We were wrong! The trail lulls you into thinking that it is a piece of cake since it is completely paved all the way to the sketchy part but then.....the sketchy part. You have to go another .5 miles to get to the top and the viewpoint. It is a half mile of rocks that have to be scaled and in some parts, nothing between you and the cliff edge but a chain. It is between 18-24 inches in some parts and you have to share that with people coming down and all the other people going up. Sometimes you come upon a person that does not want to give up that chain so then you have to really watch your footing and pray you won't fall off the side of the cliff. The whole time I was up there I was madder than a hornet thinking to myself I should never have gone up there and that if I orphaned my daughter I would never forgive myself. Haha! Needless to say, we made it back.
Both parks are an absolute must see but Bryce is my favorite. :)
The first park we visited was Zion. Everyone has a different experience when visiting this park but ours seemed to be one of "commercialization". We found out, after we got there, that the week of Easter is one of their busiest times of the year. Boy, we couldn't agree more. The first day we got to the park was a little later in the day but you would think we were in DisneyWorld on Christmas morning! The line to get on the shuttle to get into the park (which you had to take) was about an hour long! When we finally did get into the park though, it was worth the wait. The canyon is just.....well....beyond words. We spent about 4 hours in the park that day, kind of getting the "lay of the land" and plotting what we wanted to go back and do. The narration on the shuttle bus talked about the hike to Angel's Landing and how it is pretty treacherous, that made Gary and I want to do it all the more. ;) When we got to the base of "Weeping Rock" we talked to the park ranger there and he suggested Observation Point. That hike takes you to the highest point in the park and it is about an 8 mile hike. That sounded like our speed so we made plans to do that one first. It did not disappoint but boy, was it ever crowded at the top! The views were amazing but I would have preferred to share them with maybe 10 other people instead of the 50 or so that were partying at the top. I guess I am just spoiled by my beloved Sawtooths and all the hiking we did there.
We decided to take a break from the crowds of Zion and travel a couple of hours to Bryce Canyon. Now this was more my speed. It was still crowded but nothing like Zion. The whole park reminded me of more of what I was used to. Evergreens and rocks, just like home. But then, you have the Hoodoos. Oh, the Hoodoos!! So completely beautiful!!! And the legend that goes along with them. I won't tell you the legend, you will have to visit to find out yourself. We spent the day viewing the canyon from all drivable angles and vowed to come back and hike among the Hoodoos, along the canyon floor.
The next time we visited Bryce was our hiking day. Gary and I had first planned to do a 2.5 mile hike but felt like we weren't going to see enough of the canyon so we picked our own trail that ended up being only 5 miles but we were able to see a good deal of the canyon and most of its highlights. It was absolutely other worldly to be able to touch the canyon walls and some of the Hoodoos. It is something I won't soon forget. Sometimes I would just stop along the trail to thank God that I was able to experience the place I was in.
After spending Easter going to mass and just taking it easy for the day, we wrapped up our trip to St. George by going back into Zion and hiking Angel's Landing. We were told so much about it that we thought we were prepared. We were wrong! The trail lulls you into thinking that it is a piece of cake since it is completely paved all the way to the sketchy part but then.....the sketchy part. You have to go another .5 miles to get to the top and the viewpoint. It is a half mile of rocks that have to be scaled and in some parts, nothing between you and the cliff edge but a chain. It is between 18-24 inches in some parts and you have to share that with people coming down and all the other people going up. Sometimes you come upon a person that does not want to give up that chain so then you have to really watch your footing and pray you won't fall off the side of the cliff. The whole time I was up there I was madder than a hornet thinking to myself I should never have gone up there and that if I orphaned my daughter I would never forgive myself. Haha! Needless to say, we made it back.
Both parks are an absolute must see but Bryce is my favorite. :)
Monday, April 17, 2017
Temple View RV Park
We wanted to see the amazing sights of Zion and Bryce Canyon National Parks, so we ended up booking our stay at the Temple View RV Park. Unfortunately for us, we were looking for a reservation during the Easter week, which is one of the busiest time for this area. Temple View RV park was the closest reservation we could get to the parks. We had a one hour drive to Zion and two hours to Bryce. However, the St. George area is nice and safe.
The park has a central office area that includes a very small workout room with two bikes, two treadmills and some weight machines that don't look like they have been used much or even are in working condition. They have a good laundry room that is surprisingly large, a large meeting room and decent showers. The pool area is relatively small, but many of the families staying here for their vacation were enjoying the area. They advertise fast wi-fi, but we found it to be spotty for even text emails. Early in the morning or late at night is your best option. At least it worked somewhat...
The park itself is comprised of ~60% park models and the rest of the sites open for RVs. We had a lot of RVs coming and going during our stay with everything from small popup trailers to 5th wheels to large diesel pushers. All of the sites are back in sites and you are packed in tight. Most of the RV sites we saw around us had a small concrete pad with a metal picnic table. The rest of the site is gravel with the roads all paved. Pricing was very reasonable.
We rate this park a 3 out of 5, but would have no concerns coming back here when we spend more time in this area.
The park has a central office area that includes a very small workout room with two bikes, two treadmills and some weight machines that don't look like they have been used much or even are in working condition. They have a good laundry room that is surprisingly large, a large meeting room and decent showers. The pool area is relatively small, but many of the families staying here for their vacation were enjoying the area. They advertise fast wi-fi, but we found it to be spotty for even text emails. Early in the morning or late at night is your best option. At least it worked somewhat...
The park itself is comprised of ~60% park models and the rest of the sites open for RVs. We had a lot of RVs coming and going during our stay with everything from small popup trailers to 5th wheels to large diesel pushers. All of the sites are back in sites and you are packed in tight. Most of the RV sites we saw around us had a small concrete pad with a metal picnic table. The rest of the site is gravel with the roads all paved. Pricing was very reasonable.
We rate this park a 3 out of 5, but would have no concerns coming back here when we spend more time in this area.
Sunday, April 9, 2017
Zane Grey RV Park
We fell in love with this park. The location in Camp Verde is a bit out of town and you will have a 40 minute drive to get into Sedona, but the park is worth it. The sites are extremely well maintained and clean. The roads and sites are all cinder, but the dust is low (they have and use daily a water truck), and there are very large trees at every site. We got a pull through site to handle our rig and had 40+ foot trees on both sides. Each site comes with a picnic table. The park has clean bathrooms and showers, a central picnic/meeting area where they offer coffee and doughnuts every Saturday morning, a camp fire pit area and a couple of nice walking trails along the creek that runs just below the park. The park is very dog friendly. We met a lot of nice dogs and their owners that made us miss Ranger more than ever. We spent multiple evenings watching TV outside and I went on a walk very morning as the park feels and smells like you are camping.
The owners just closed on the sale of the park to new owners. The new owners take over on the day we are leaving and we hope they don't change a thing. Many of the people at the park come here every year and there is a strong sense of community. We met several of our neighbors and are already planning to come back next year.
We give the park a 5 out of 5 on our scale.
The owners just closed on the sale of the park to new owners. The new owners take over on the day we are leaving and we hope they don't change a thing. Many of the people at the park come here every year and there is a strong sense of community. We met several of our neighbors and are already planning to come back next year.
We give the park a 5 out of 5 on our scale.
Sedona
Sedona...one of the most beautiful places in the world. So much to do that we love that we ran out of time to get it all in. We started off the stay by going to Montezuma Castle National Monument, which was impressive, but paled in comparison to Bandelier. We then did a quick hike to Bell Rock, which was supposed to be a nice walk in the park until I decided I wanted to scramble to the top. Danelle waited about 80% of the way up to see if I would make it and/or hurt myself. Good news...I made it. We did a side trip to Jerome, which is an old copper mining town in the mountains. Very cool drive and area. Taylor joined us the next day for some hiking and we headed up to do Soldier Pass for a nice easy hike. Once there we decided to add on Brins Mesa for additional miles and views. Good family times. Our next adventure was a quick stop to Montezuma Well National Monument and then the West Fork Trail. This was one of the most scenic hikes we've been on so far. Several spots reminded us of being in the Sawtooths. We ended our stay in Sedona with a day of walking the old downtown tourists areas, shopping and enjoying a great dinner.
Sedona is one of the places that we plan to visit again.
Sedona is one of the places that we plan to visit again.
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