Barstow / Calico KOA Holiday

We stayed at Barstow / Calico KOA Holiday in Yermo, California. (Campground Reviews listing.)

Rather short site, and too much freeway noise, but okay for a couple of days.

Dates:

  • Check in: 2023-03-23
  • Check out: 2023-03-25
  • 2 nights

Weather:

  • Partly sunny
  • High temps ranging between 58-60°F, lows around 35-39°F
  • Wind gusts to 37 MPH

Noise:

  • Loud freeway noise; no train noise

Site:

  • #39, pull-through, gravel
  • Needed to disconnect toad; parked beside coach
  • Level
  • Small site: about 50 feet long by about 30 feet wide
  • Picnic tables, charcoal grill, gravel, shrubs

Utilities:

  • 50 amp power, conveniently located
  • 40 PSI water, conveniently located
  • Good sewer connection, inconveniently located (2 10-foot pipe needed)

Internet (in usage priority order):

  • T-Mobile: 38 Mbps down, 42-69 Mbps up, 27 ms ping
  • AT&T: 12-17 Mbps down, 4 Mbps up, 40 ms ping
  • Verizon: 1 Mbps down, 1 Mbps up, 300 ms ping
  • Starlink: not used
  • Campground Wi-Fi: none

Amenities:

  • Garbage bins
  • Closed pool

Our review on Campground Reviews:

Convenient stop along I-15

We stayed for two nights, which was about the right length of time. It’s an older KOA in need of some TLC with convenient access to the interstate; which means you do get constant road noise. The sites are pretty short, and we definitely had to unhook the tow and park alongside the coach. The site also seemed a bit narrow, but that may have been because it had an excess of tables and chairs (2 picnic tables, a concrete table and benches, and a park bench). We camped at Barstow / Calico KOA Holiday in a Motorhome.

Tip for Other Campers: Check out the Calico Ghost Town and Peggy Sue’s Diner. Both were good, kitschy fun.

Interactive map:

Campground map:

Map

Our site; we didn’t bother with the Magne Shade, since only a couple of nights:

Our site

Our site

Our site

Our site

Utilities:

Utilities

So many tables and benches:

Tables

View of the freeway from our window:

View of freeway

Entrance:

Entrance

Office:

Office

Bike and archery rental (maybe in summer):

Bike and archery rental

Mural:

Mural

Piano:

Piano

Artwork:

Artwork

Playground:

Playground

Train car:

Train car

Deflated jump pad:

Deflated jump pad

Pool:

Pool

Tent sites:

Tent sites

Cabins:

Cabins

RV sites:

RV sites

RV sites

RV sites

Death Valley Furnace Creek Campground

We stayed at Furnace Creek Campground within Death Valley National Park, California. (Campground Reviews listing.)

The first time we’ve ever stayed inside a national park in our coach.

Dates:

  • Check in: 2023-03-20
  • Check out: 2023-03-23
  • 3 nights

Weather:

  • Partly sunny, a couple days of drizzle
  • High temps ranging between 61-73°F, lows around 43-50°F
  • Wind gusts to 37 MPH

Noise:

  • No road or train noise
  • Some neighbor kid noise, not too bad

Site:

  • #69, pull-through, asphalt
  • Didn’t need to disconnect toad; parked behind and in front of coach
  • Level
  • Large site: about 95 feet long by about 50 feet wide
  • Picnic table, fire pit, gravel

Utilities:

  • 50 amp power, conveniently located
  • 55 PSI water, conveniently located
  • Good sewer connection, conveniently located (1 10-foot pipe needed)

Internet (in usage priority order):

  • Starlink: 43-148 Mbps down, 11-23 Mbps up, 29-40 ms ping
  • T-Mobile: no service
  • AT&T: no service
  • Verizon: no service
  • Campground Wi-Fi: none

Amenities:

  • Garbage dumpsters
  • National Park!
  • Visitor center
  • General store
  • Restaurant

Our review on Campground Reviews:

Great campground in the heart of Death Valley NP

There are two things I wish about this place: 1) That they had more full hookup sites, and 2) that we’d gotten to stay longer. We originally booked a dry camping spot but were lucky enough to snag a cancellation for a full hookup and I’m so glad we did. I would have stayed here either way, as it’s truly the best place to stay in or near the park. The pull-through sites are incredibly long and every site is large so you’re not cramped against your neighbor, which is appropriate when staying in the largest National Park in the contiguous 48 states. It’s also very convenient to all the “must-see” places in the park. If you need internet while staying here, you must have Starlink. Cellular data was non-existent for any carrier. There is WiFi at the Furnace Creek Ranch. We camped at Furnace Creek in a Motorhome.

Tip for Other Campers: Gas in Stovepipe Wells was quite a bit cheaper than at Furnace Creek and the food was better at the restaurant there, too.

Interactive map:

The campground map:

Map

Death Valley National Park is interesting in that it is mostly below sea level. The campground has an elevation of -190 feet:

-190 feet elevation

Our site:

Our site

Our site

Our site

Our site

Death Valley is the hottest and driest national park… so of course it was cool and rainy:

Rain and mud

Entrance:

Entrance

Dishwashing station:

Dishwashing station

Other sites:

Other sites

Other sites

Other sites

Other sites

Other sites

Other sites

Oasis Las Vegas RV Resort

We stayed at Oasis Las Vegas RV Resort in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Campground Reviews listing.)

A large RV resort, just down the road from the Vegas Strip.

Dates:

  • Check in: 2023-03-13
  • Check out: 2023-03-20
  • 7 nights

Weather:

  • Mostly sunny, a couple days of drizzle, one day of nearby thunderstorms
  • High temps ranging between 63-72°F, lows around 41-54°F
  • Some wind

Noise:

  • Fairly loud freeway noise, though more like a background noise
  • No train noise
  • Airplane noise; in the flight path for the big airport

Site:

  • #108, pull-through, concrete
  • Needed to disconnect toad; parked behind coach
  • Level
  • Small site: about 55 feet long by about 25 feet wide
  • Concrete patio, picnic table, grass

Utilities:

  • 50 amp power, conveniently located
  • 55 PSI water, conveniently located
  • Fair sewer connection, conveniently located (1 10-foot pipe, 1 2-foot pipe needed)

Internet (in usage priority order):

  • T-Mobile: 25 Mbps down, 5 Mbps up, 20 ms ping
  • AT&T: 22 Mbps down, 15 Mbps up, 44 ms ping
  • Verizon: 25-35 Mbps down, 8-16 Mbps up, 50 ms ping
  • Starlink: not used
  • Campground Wi-Fi: not used

Amenities:

  • Garbage bins
  • Pools and hot tub
  • Restaurant

Our ranty review on Campground Reviews:

Large resort, near The Strip

This could have been so much better than it was, but the annoyances started early and kept adding on:

– Upon arrival, we had to wait for a long line of RVs to be checked in. When it was our turn, we found out why it took so long: they checked every rig for the “RVIA sticker”. I’ve never had that before and it was weird because our rig was originally bought in Canada so it had a different sticker than they were used to. Look, if you’re just looking to keep Schoolies and homemade conversions out of the park “for insurance reasons”, I get it, but when someone shows up in a pretty well-known make and model, just wave them through.

– Once you get inside the gate, you have to sign some paperwork and head inside to registration, which was incredibly slow even with four people on duty. Got through that process where I signed as much paperwork as when we sold or bought a house.

– On our way out the door we were accosted by a “Good Sam Rep” that had obviously been waiting for the tired and weary travelers to try to Shanghai them into a timeshare presentation without knowing what was going on. We were halfway through signing up for the seminar when we cottoned on to the shenanigans and walked out.

– Got to our “Premium Pull-through site” and it was quite a squeeze to fit the 40′ motorhome and tow vehicle on the pad. We had to unhook and park the truck diagonally across the pad to keep our bumpers out of the road, also being sure to avoid the lamp post, the garbage can, and the sprinkler heads.

– They have an extensive rule booklet, but nobody else seemed to read it and nobody in the park actually enforced the rules.

– Went to soak in the hot tub, which is a welcome perk after a day of driving, and despite being “adults only” there were many, many children jumping into it with no parents around.

– Wanted to partake in the café, but it was only open sporadically. The one time we did get in, though, the martinis were strong and the tater tots were amazing.

– When you leave the park and come back you have to sit in the long line of RVs checking in because there isn’t a separate line for checking in versus returning.

– On the other hand, it was a conveniently short drive to The Strip.

 We camped at Oasis Las Vegas RV Resort in a Motorhome.

Tip for Other Campers: Convenient to The Strip, but if you want a bit of nature and amazing scenery, Red Rock Canyon and Valley of Fire are each a decent day trip.

Interactive map:

Campground map:

Map

Our site:

Our site

Our site

Our site

Our site

When one enters the park, they first need to check in with security, that hands over a registration form:

Security

Then one parks in one of the several registration lanes:

Registration lanes

And goes into the office:

Office

To the registration desk:

Registration

They really like their paperwork and inefficient procedures. Perhaps necessary with such a large park, but it didn’t seem very streamlined.

Swimming pools:

Swimming pools

Swimming pools

We used the hot tub, though despite all the signs about no kids in the hot tub, there were several that used it:

Hot tub

They have family and adult swimming pools; this is the family one, which nobody was using as it wasn’t heated — so of course all the kids were in the adults-only pool. Yay:

Swimming pool

A fairly large store:

Store

Always nice to have an on-site restaurant too; we had dinner there once (and were going to another couple of nights, but they were closed — having an onsite restaurant is well and good, but having it closed unexpectedly is almost worse than not having one, though I know lots of restaurants struggle with staffing nowadays):

Restaurant

Tasty martinis; yes, they had a full bar:

Martinis

Jenn’s sandwich and tots:

Sandwich and tots

My burger and lots of fries:

Burger and fries

Also nice when an RV park has a mail room; we got several packages delivered here:

Mail room

Outdoor game area:

Game area

Games

Bathrooms:

Bathrooms

Other RVs:

Other RVs

Other RVs

The elevated freeway was very near, resulting in a constant hum of noise:

Freeway

The big Las Vegas airport was also nearby, so planes would frequently fly over:

Plane

The entrance at night:

Entrance at night

A nice RV resort; not great, but good, and close to the Vegas attractions. We might stay here again, but would probably prefer to try another place, or go back to Lake Mead.

Kingman KOA Journey

We stayed at Kingman KOA Journey in Kingman, Arizona. (Campground Reviews listing.)

We were going to stay somewhere else, but changed our plans due to our NIRVC stay, so this was a last-minute reservation.

Dates:

  • Check in: 2023-03-10
  • Check out: 2023-03-13
  • 3 nights

Weather:

  • Mostly sunny
  • High temps ranging between 64-66°F, lows around 41-49°F
  • Wind gusts to 28 MPH

Noise:

  • A little distant road noise, no train noise

Site:

  • #96, pull-through, gravel
  • Needed to disconnect toad; parked in front of coach
  • A little unlevel
  • Medium site: about 50 feet long by about 40 feet wide
  • Concrete patio site with patio table & chairs, fire pit, grill

Utilities:

  • 50 amp power, conveniently located
  • 45 PSI water, conveniently located
  • A little loose sewer connection, conveniently located (1 10-foot pipe needed); it had an underground leak that spilled onto the ground

Internet (in usage priority order):

  • T-Mobile: 12-16 Mbps down, 14-19 Mbps up, 40 ms ping
  • AT&T: 17-41 Mbps down, 12-23 Mbps up, 146 ms ping
  • Verizon: 5 Mbps down, 4 Mbps up, 50 ms ping
  • Starlink: not used
  • Campground Wi-Fi: not used

Amenities:

  • Garbage dumpsters
  • Closed pool
  • Mini-golf

Our review on Campground Reviews:

A good place to stop between Phoenix & Vegas

This was a last-minute reservation as we had to change our plans between Phoenix & Vegas. The KOA website is always straightforward and convenient. The staff were nice and helpful, including guiding us to our spot. We had a nice end patio spot with a view of the mountains. There’s a small bit of noise from the interstate, but not too bad. Roads inside the park were a little tight on some of the corners. We camped at Kingman KOA Journey in a Motorhome.

Tip for Other Campers: Convenient day trip to Grand Canyon West and the Sky Walk.

Interactive map:

RV park map:

Map

Our site:

Our site

Our site

Our site

Our site

Patio:

Patio

The electrical pedestal was a bit strange, with the outlets on the side:

Electric pedistal

And the two 50 amp switches were not connected:

Electric pedistal

Sign:

Sign

Entrance:

Entrance

Office:

Office

Office

Office

Closed swimming pool:

Closed swimming pool

Mini golf:

Mini golf

Playground:

Playground

When we arrived we had to wait for this RV and Jeep to untoad, as they didn’t make the turn after the entrance:

Didn't make the turn

Other sites:

Other sites

Other sites

Other sites

Other sites

Other sites

Mobile homes for 55+ long-term residents:

Mobile homes

Mobile homes

Mountain views:

Mountains

NIRVC Phoenix service to fix DEF head failure and more

When we arrived at the Las Cruces KOA, we got the Check Engine and Malfunction Indicator Lights on our dash, and the three error codes that indicated the dreaded DEF head failure issue — SPN 3364 FMI 9, SPN 1761 FMI 9, and SPN 3031 FMI 9:

Error codes

We tried to reset the errors with the BlueFire adapter, which worked… but at the end of the next drive, the errors came back. So we knew we had to get the DEF head replaced. The DEF head is a component of the Diesel Exhaust Fluid system, that measures the level and temperature of the DEF tank. But coaches built around 2017, as ours was, had a part with a design flaw, causing it to fail for many coaches. It was pretty much a matter of time before ours failed, so I got a DEF head simulator as insurance, and we never let the DEF get below halfway, to help reduce the chance of the issue occurring. But our time came regardless.

We could have taken our coach to a Cummins service shop, but they operate on a first-come-first-served basis, so we’d likely have to wait a few days. Not convenient when we live full-time in our coach. But fortunately we were a few hours south of Phoenix, Arizona, where National Indoor RV Centers (NIRVC) has a facility. A place we were familiar with, having had our coach serviced there before.

So I contacted that NIRVC, and asked if they could get the replacement DEF head from Tiffin, and fit us in to replace it. They were able to do so. We were super-impressed with their service. They worked with Tiffin to get the part overnighted, and Tiffin covered the cost of the part and labor. When we arrived, the Service Manager (Andrew Pringle) greeted me and came out to help us get parked in a campsite.

We also got them to do a few other tweaks while we were there. One was I noticed this pump/compressor/thingy that’s part of the air leveling system had come off its brackets, and was vibrating significantly when used (we pretty much never use air leveling, but tried it when arriving at NIRVC; great time to find that!):

Pump or something

The brackets were broken, so the tech drilled out and replaced the brackets to get it re-mounted.

We also got them to look for a rattling noise elsewhere in the generator compartment, which they partially fixed with some foam padding. And we got them to add a cover over the ceiling vent in our rear bathroom; something we wanted to do at the recent NIRVC service in Dallas, but the part was out-of-stock there.

Not bad for a day’s work at short notice!

We had been scheduled to stay in Tombstone for seven days, but we left early to go to NIRVC, arriving in the afternoon, and staying overnight at NIRVC, so they could have the full next day to do their work. We chose to stay there that night too, before moving on.

Here are my usual campsite stats; not a typical campsite, but great that NIRVC offers the ability to stay overnight, even with an electrical hookup:

Dates:

  • Check in: 2023-03-08
  • Check out: 2023-03-10
  • 2 nights

Weather:

  • Mostly sunny
  • High temps ranging between 75°F, lows around 42-44°F
  • Negligible wind

Noise:

  • Some road noise, no train noise
  • Jets flying over from Luke Air Force Base

Site:

  • #4, back in, gravel
  • Needed to disconnect toad; parked beside coach
  • Fairly level
  • Medium site: about 70 feet long by about 25 feet wide

Utilities:

  • 50 amp power, conveniently located
  • No water
  • No sewer (dump station available)

Internet (in usage priority order):

  • T-Mobile: 62-75 Mbps down, 30 Mbps up, 80 ms ping
  • AT&T: 33-49 Mbps down, 12 Mbps up, 70 ms ping
  • Verizon: 47-70 Mbps down, 20-41 Mbps up, 60 ms ping
  • Starlink: not used
  • Campground Wi-Fi: none

Amenities:

  • RV repair

Interactive map; the campsites are in the northeast corner of the grounds:

Our site (with the generator compartment open):

Our site

Electrical hookup:

Our site

Looking past our site to the front of the NIRVC building:

Our site

Front of NIRVC

Front of NIRVC

We sat in the waiting room for a few hours:

Waiting room

Kitchen:

Kitchen

The waiting room has windows overlooking the massive indoor RV storage facility:

RV storage

Looking across the storage area, you can see the roof of our coach by the leftmost door:

RV storage

We were very happy with their service, glad that they could fit us in, and solve our DEF head issue plus the other improvements. We highly recommend NIRVC for RV service.

Tombstone RV Park & Campground

We stayed at Tombstone RV Park & Campground in Tombstone, Arizona. (Campground Reviews listing.)

An uncomfortably short site.

Dates:

  • Check in: 2023-03-04
  • Check out: 2023-03-08
  • 4 nights
  • We were going to stay 7 nights, but left early to go to NIRVC (see upcoming posts)

Weather:

  • Mostly sunny
  • High temps ranging between 68-73°F, lows around 36-45°F
  • Negligible wind, yay!

Noise:

  • Some road noise, no train noise
  • Occasional loud neighbors

Site:

  • #45, pull-through, gravel
  • Needed to disconnect toad; parked beside coach
  • Fairly level
  • Small site: about 38 feet long by about 25 feet wide
  • Picnic table; no fire pit

Utilities:

  • 50 amp power, conveniently located
  • 35 PSI water, conveniently located
  • Fair sewer connection, conveniently located (1 10-foot pipe needed)

Internet (in usage priority order):

  • Starlink: 6-23 Mbps down, 3-8 Mbps up, 100 ms ping
  • T-Mobile: 17-23 Mbps down, 2 Mbps up, 70 ms ping
  • AT&T: 16 Mbps down, 2 Mbps up, 75 ms ping
  • Verizon: no service
  • Campground Wi-Fi: not used

Amenities:

  • Garbage dumpsters
  • Heated pool

Our review on Campground Reviews:

Good spot to stop close to Tombstone

This was a really nice, well-run park and a great launching point for all the area has to offer. The hosts were all very friendly and helpful from check-in, to guiding us to our site, to helping us with package deliveries. Our site was clean and level. On the other hand, it was also pretty short for our 40′ motorhome and tow vehicle. Usually, if we have a pull-through site it’s okay if we unhook the tow after we park the coach. Here, we really should have unhooked beforehand as the truck was completely blocking the lane until we unhooked it and parked alongside the coach. Even so, the motorhome was poking out to the front and rear. We had to use our safety cones for the first time to help demarcate our corners. We camped at Tombstone RV Park and Campground in a Motorhome.

Tip for Other Campers: Chiricahua National Monument and Fort Bowie National Historic Site are a good day trip away and shouldn’t be missed.

Interactive map:

Tombstone newspaper and RV park map:

Newspaper and map

Guided to our site:

Arriving at site

Our site; it was rather short, so we put out mini cones to help prevent people hitting our coach:

Our site

Our site

Our site

The tombstone theme: “here lies [site] 45”:

Our site

The cellular services weren’t great, so we used Starlink:

Starlink

The entrance at sunset:

Entrance at sunset

Office:

Office

Activity center:

Activity center

Swimming pool:

Swimming pool

Cart:

Cart

Other sites:

Other sites

Other sites

Other sites

It was fine, though the site was too short for comfort, and the roads a bit tight in places.

Las Cruces KOA Journey

We stayed at Las Cruces KOA Journey in Las Cruces, New Mexico. (Campground Reviews listing.)

Our second visit in just a few months to this RV park.

Dates:

  • Check in: 2023-02-25
  • Check out: 2023-03-04
  • 7 nights
  • We arrived one day early to avoid traveling during 60 MPH gusts

Weather:

  • Partly cloudy
  • High temps ranging between 52-69°F, lows around 27-37°F
  • 60 MPH wind gusts on the first day, and 30-40 MPH most other days

Noise:

  • Negligible road noise (distant freeway noise, only audible outside); no train noise

Sites:

  • #28, pull-in, gravel; unusual to have a front-in site
  • Needed to disconnect toad; parked beside coach
  • Fairly level
  • Large site: about 55 feet long by about 45 feet wide
  • Full hookups (on both sides, for front-in motorhomes and back-in trailers):
    • 50 amp power, not very conveniently located
    • 45 PSI water, fairly conveniently located
    • Good sewer connection, conveniently located (1 10-foot pipe needed)
  • Picnic table on concrete pad; no fire pit
  • City and mountain view

We were only in that site for the first night, as that was the extra day for arriving early (as a separate reservation). Then we needed to move to a different (similar) site:

  • #16, pull-in, gravel
  • Needed to disconnect toad; parked behind coach
  • Fairly level
  • Medium site: about 60 feet long by about 20 feet wide
  • Full hookups (on one side, for front-in motorhomes):
    • 50 amp power, very conveniently located
    • 50 PSI water, very conveniently located
    • Good sewer connection, somewhat conveniently located (2 10-foot pipes needed)
  • Picnic table on gravel; no fire pit
  • City and mountain view

Internet (in usage priority order):

  • T-Mobile: 12-16 Mbps down, 34 Mbps up, 58 ms ping
  • AT&T: 9 Mbps down, 9 Mbps up, 45 ms ping
  • Verizon: 1-11 Mbps down, 10 Mbps up, 65-588 ms ping
  • Starlink: not used
  • Campground Wi-Fi: not used

Amenities:

  • Garbage dumpster
  • Closed pool

Our review on Campground Reviews:

The best views

This was our second time staying here and it was just as nice as the last time. We came in a day earlier than originally planned to avoid some wind storms in the area and were able to get a reservation that morning for a view site. Because it was technically a second reservation, they had to do some rearranging and we wound up moving from site 28 to 16 at the start of our original reservation. No biggie, other than the disconcerting feeling of bringing in the stabilizing jacks and feeling the wind buffet the rig violently from side to side. Some of the most white-knuckle driving ever just to go from one end of the campground to the other. The staff were so helpful and understanding in accommodating our early arrival and relocation as we weren’t the only ones with the idea to avoid the weather. You just have to get a view site at this place or you’re really missing out. I’m sure you could get a peep of it from further back or enjoy the view from one of the communal areas, but it’s just so awesome to view it out the front window of the motorhome. We’ll definitely be back when we come this way again. We camped at Las Cruces KOA Journey in a Motorhome.

Tip for Other Campers: Bosque Brewing across from NMSU has good beer and food.

An interactive map of the park:

RV park map:

Map

Our first site before parking:

Our first site

Our first site with our coach and truck; this may look familiar to long-time readers, as it’s the same site we had last time we were here:

Our first site

Our first site

Our first site

Our first site

The view from inside our coach:

Our first site

The utilities of our first site (I didn’t bother hooking up the sewer pipe, since we were only there one night):

Our first site utilities

After that first night, we needed to move to another site. Here’s our second site before parking:

Our second site

Our second site with our coach and truck:

Our second site

Notice the sky; it was very windy and dusty, so we only put out the driver-side slides (being leeward), and left the passenger-side ones in:

Our second site

Our second site

We received an emergency alert for the dust storm:

Emergency alert

A screenshot of my weather app, showing the wind gusts:

Wind gusts

The coach is a bit weird with one side in, but still quite usable:

One slide in

One slide in

Nicer weather:

Our second site

Our second site

Our second site

Our second site

The view from inside:

View

Our second site utilities:

Our second site utilities

Cleaning the windshield:

Cleaning windshield

Cleaning windshield

Nice view:

View

Mountains

A tiny Casita trailer next to our 40-foot coach; kinda looks like we laid an egg:

Tiny trailer

Since the wind was ongoing, if not quite so strong, and we wanted to put the slides out, I added ropes to brace slide toppers:

Ropes to brace slide toppers

Ropes to brace slide toppers

One day, it even snowed!

Snow

Snow

Snow

A video of the snow:

A video from the dash cam, showing the snow clearing:

(Did you spot the cat?)

Snowy mountains:

Snowy mountains

You can see more of this RV park in my post for our previous stay, but here are a few pics, starting with the office:

Office

Dog park:

Dog park

Tent and camp kitchen areas:

Tent and camp kitchen areas

Other RVs:

Other RVs

Sunrise view from our coach:

Sunrise view

Sunset views:

Sunset view

Sunset view

Sunset view

This is a nice RV park; the sites aren’t the best, especially being buddy sites, but the view more than makes up for that. This was our second visit, and we’ll probably stay here again if we’re back this way in the future.

Abilene KOA Journey

We stayed at Abilene KOA Journey in Abilene, Texas. (Campground Reviews listing.)

A very basic KOA, with loud freeway traffic.

Dates:

  • Check in: 2023-02-23
  • Check out: 2023-02-25
  • 2 nights

Weather:

  • Cloudy
  • High temps ranging between 48-57°F, lows around 35-41°F
  • Negligible wind

Noise:

  • Loud road noise from the freeway; distant train noise
  • No neighbor noise

Site:

  • #58, pull-through, gravel
  • All the pull-throughs are buddy sites, except this one and the one next to it, where they converted the next-door site to a patio
  • Didn’t need to disconnect toad; parked behind coach
  • Level site
  • Medium site: about 60 feet long by about 30 feet wide
  • Concrete patio
  • Patio table & chairs
  • Fire pit
  • Propane & charcoal grills
  • A few trees

Utilities:

  • 50 amp power, fairly conveniently located
  • 60 PSI water, conveniently located
  • Good sewer connection, somewhat conveniently located (2 10-foot pipes needed)

Internet (in usage priority order):

  • T-Mobile: 46-62 Mbps down, 8 Mbps up, 50 ms ping
  • AT&T: 5 Mbps down, 9 Mbps up, 78 ms ping
  • Verizon: 1 Mbps down, 0.5 Mbps up, 200 ms ping
  • Starlink: not used
  • Campground Wi-Fi: not used

Amenities:

  • Garbage pickup from site

Our review on Campground Reviews:

Buddy sites and road noise

We stayed here for two nights which was about one night more than necessary. The pull-throughs were pretty much all buddy sites (which I hate), but we splurged on the patio site which meant that we had a little buffer between us and our neighbor on the living side (nevermind that our neighbor the first night seemed to think it was a communal area, but I digress). The real downside of this park is the constant noise from I-20 with trucks using their jake brakes at all hours. We camped at Abilene KOA Journey in a Motorhome.

Tip for Other Campers: Frontier Texas! (the exclamation point is part of the name) was pretty cool and worth a stop.

An interactive map of the park:

The map:

Map

Our site:

Our site

Our site

Our site

Our site

A nice patio, that we didn’t use, since the weather wasn’t great; but still worth it to avoid being in a buddy site:

Patio

A nice fire pit area on the patio:

Fire pit

A GIF of the freeway from our site, showing how close it was:

Freeway

Our site

Bathrooms:

Bathrooms

Cabins:

Cabins

Other sites:

Other sites

Other sites

This RV park was a convenient stop for a couple of nights, but we wouldn’t choose to stay here other than for that purpose, what with the loud freeway noise and buddy sites.

Thousand Trails Lake Texoma RV Campground

We stayed at Thousand Trails Lake Texoma RV Campground in Gordonville, Texas. (Campground Reviews listing.)

Another Thousand Trails, more of the state park feel.

Dates:

  • Check in: 2023-02-16
  • Check out: 2023-02-23
  • 7 nights

Weather:

  • Some sunny days
  • High temps ranging between 49-80°F, lows around 28-53°F
  • Some wind, up to 30 MPH gusts

Noise:

  • No road noise or train noise
  • No neighbor noise

Site:

  • #A43, pull-through, gravel
  • Buddy site, but on end so nobody facing us (other than the bathroom block)
  • Didn’t need to disconnect toad; parked in front of coach
  • Not very level front to back or side to side; used blocks to help front jacks
  • Medium site: about 80 feet long by about 25 feet wide
  • Picnic table
  • Fire pit
  • Grass & trees

Utilities:

  • 50 amp power, fairly conveniently located
  • 75 PSI water, conveniently located (disconnected during sub-freezing nights)
  • Non-threaded sewer connection, very conveniently located (1 10-foot pipe needed)

Internet (in usage priority order):

  • Starlink: 20-55 Mbps down, 1-6 Mbps up, 30 ms ping
  • T-Mobile: 13 Mbps down, 2 Mbps up, 28 ms ping
  • AT&T: 15 Mbps down, 4 Mbps up, 37 ms ping
  • Verizon: 10 Mbps down, 2 Mbps up, 40 ms ping
  • Campground Wi-Fi: not used

Amenities:

  • Garbage dumpster
  • Closed pools

Our review on Campground Reviews:

Older campground, needs some love

Unusually for a Thousand Trails park, the staff knew what sites were actually available and we were able to select one at check-in. We wanted a 50 amp pull-through but unfortunately, all the 50A pull-throughs are buddy sites. I hate buddy sites. We were lucky enough to get one on the end so our living area wasn’t directly on top of someone else, but it did open up to the bathroom block. Scenic! The site was not at all level front-to-back and we had to maneuver a bit to find the most level location. The roads here are more pothole than road, so maneuvering our coach to avoid the worst of them was interesting. If we’d been planning to stay longer, I would definitely get one of the back-in sites tucked in the trees. We camped at Thousand Trails Lake Texoma in a Motorhome.

An interactive map of the park:

The map:

Map

Our site:

Our site

Rather close to the neighbor:

Our site

Our site

Our site

Utilities; can’t get any better sewer placement:

Utilities

The view out the buddy-side window wasn’t exciting:

View out window

We used the griddle and ate outside for several meals:

Griddle

Time to add the Virgin Islands National Park sticker to the coach:

Virgin Islands National Park sticker

Virgin Islands National Park sticker

And Virgin Islands stickers and a pin on the board inside:

Virgin Islands stickers and pin

No, this isn’t another picture of our coach, but a neighboring Tiffin with a very similar paint scheme:

Neighbor RV

RV

This is the 37AP floorplan, a bit smaller than ours:

37AP

On the other side of our site were bathrooms, but separated by some grass, so it wasn’t too bad:

Bathrooms

Other RVs:

Other RVs

More buddy sites:

Buddy sites

A murky but nice pond and island:

Pond

Pond

Pond bench

The activity center has a large covered area:

Activity center

Games

Activity pools:

Activity pools

Lodge:

Lodge

Lodge pool:

Lodge pool

Bridge:

Bridge

A corner of Lake Texoma:

Lake

Lake

Sunset:

Sunset

Sunset

Not the fanciest campground, but not too bad. We’d probably opt for a back-in if we stay here again.