Crown Villa RV Resort

Crown Villa RV Resort is truly a resort. The park is located right in Bend and is convenient to getting around to everything in this area. The sites are pavers and the roads are asphalt. The sites are very long and there is a large grass area between sites. The amenities of the park are nice, new and clean. The have a good bathroom and shower area, the nicest laundry area I've seen yet at an RV park, a hot tub, tennis courts and dog park. The trees are large and provide good shade, which makes it 50/50 or so for being able to get satellite connection. Their wi-fi is reasonable for speed and consistent. Will be staying at this park again when we visit the area again. We rate the park a 5 out of 5.

Crater Lake RV Park

For our visit to Crater Lake, we picked this park due to what they advertised for their amenities. The park is about 20 minutes from the south entrance to the National Park. It is located in a heavily wooded area near the small town of Prospect. They have no cell service. They advertise wi-fi, but they also have no wi-fi. When we checked in they told us the wi-fi was spotty and might not work at all. They were right. The park offers bathrooms and showers in a portable trailer that I wouldn't use. Because of the large trees, only a couple of the sights could get satellite service. The park is pure camping. If you are looking for a camping experience in an RV park, this is the park for you. The sites are asphalt and plenty long enough for big rigs and most have trees and foliage between sites, so you are not crowded to your neighbors. Bring leveling blocks as most of the sites have a serious slope. Our front tires were 6 inches off the ground in order to be level. We were happily surprised when they refunded us a couple of days since we left early. We rate this park a 2 out of 5. I would go 2.5 if we did half steps.

Crater Lake National Park

Our past few months so far have been good with regards to being able to see the sights in the area we stay and having things open. Our luck ended at Crater Lake National Park. When we set our schedule for the summer, biking and hiking around the lake were at the top of my list of highlights. Unfortunately, when we drove into the park we were confronted with 6-10' of snow, all of the trails closed, the west road under heavy construction and most of the overlooks closed and the east road completely closed. To make the situation even more confusing, the area is having an extreme heat wave. It was 100' at the park we stayed at just a few short miles away. We spent one day in the park and then another day sightseeing around the little town where we stayed before heading out early. The lake is amazing and I am going to plan a trip to go back in August or September. I highly recommend a visit because the pictures, even though great, do not do it justice. Fun facts about Crater Lake. It is 1950 feet deep making it the deepest lake in the US. The water is some of the purest in the world. Scientists measured the clarity by viewing a 12 inch black and white disk and could view it at a depth of 175 feet. Crater lake gets an average of over 40 feet of snow every year. 40 feet!!!

Redwood NP pictures

Sounds of the Sea RV Park

When visiting the Redwood NP area we picked this park and stayed here for a week. The park has a nice location right off 101 and just a short walk away from the Patrick Point state park right on the water. If you come in from the south, take the 734 exit and NOT the 731 exit. The road up to the park off 731 is in horrible shape. The park is a mix of RV sites and permanent mobile homes. The RV sites are gravel and very close to each other. We could not put out our awning when the site next to us was occupied. The park has an old bathroom and shower area with an attached coin operated laundry. They also have a gym that may have been decent 20 years ago. The equipment is rusted, but the few I tried worked. The draw for the park is the location. It is quiet and small and with a camping feeling. Two negatives for this park. The first is that the water pressure is extremely low. We had problems with our toilets and showers were less than satisfying. The second was the non-existent wifi. They have a service, but even at 4am it was so slow that I could not even check email. We rate this park a 3 out of 5. We would not have a problem staying here again, but would probably try one of the parks in the Klamath area.

Yosemite NP Pictures

More pictures of Redwood National Park

From the Redwood Forest.....

As all good things have to come to an end, so did our time in Napa Valley.  We closed up shop and chugged down the road.  We ended up in Trinidad, CA just inside the Redwood National Park.  The forest is gorgeous!  The drive in was full of ginormous trees and lush greenery that was just breathtaking.  Just when I thought it couldn't get more beautiful, we crested a hill and the land literally dropped right into the ocean.  Such incredible scenery that it brought a tear to the eye.  I couldn't wait to get out and see the sights the area had to offer.

Our first day we visited the information center which was right on the beach.  There is a little walk out onto the water and we took a few minutes to just watch the waves roll in.  I could do that for hours.  After remembering why we were there, it was off to some little walks that the visitor's center recommended.  We visited Lady Bird Johnson Grove which was full of towering trees and the biggest, greenest ferns I have ever seen.  It's a walk that is only about 1 mile but it has so much to see and is a great representation of what the forest is.  

Since we still had a lot of time we decided to visit Fern Canyon.  This place was so other wordly, words cannot do it justice.  Parts of Jurassic Park were filmed here and when you enter the canyon, you can see why.  Gary and I walked back into the canyon as far as we could, we had to cross the creek a few times by scrambling over rocks and fallen trees.  I was a little embarrassed once when I couldn't figure out how to get over a log and when I finally jumped to the ground, there was a group of teenagers that clapped.  Haha!  Oh, the joys of short legs.  :) 

The next day we did a short 3 mile hike that again took us into a very rain forest like setting.  The trees...I keep talking about the trees but they are works of art all on their own.  Some of these trees are about 2,000 years old and almost 400 feet high!  One of the bonuses of this hike was this brilliant little waterfall that added to the feeling of being in a rain forest.  

One more hike took us about 750 feet down to a place called Tall Trees.  What was interesting was that even though we were only a few miles from the rain forest like setting, this place was dry.  Such diverse settings within under 10 miles of each other.  But still beautiful.  

We wrapped up our time in the area by heading north to Crescent City where we visited Ocean World which is this cute little aquarium where the highlight is the little performance by a sea lion named Cora.  :)  It was very special for Gary since he remembered going there when he was just a little boy.  :)  All in all our time here was very relaxing with amazing scenery but a tad cold for my liking (was in the low 60's the whole time).  Now it's on to warmer climates!