We stayed at Sun Outdoors Paso Robles in Paso Robles, California. (Campground Reviews listing.)

A nice RV park in wine country.

Dates:

• Check in: 2023-04-20
• Check out: 2023-04-30
• 10 nights

Weather:

• Mostly sunny
• High temps ranging between 73-83°F, lows around 42-50°F
• A little wind, typically in afternoons, up to 18 MPH gusts

Noise:

• No freeway noise
• No road noise
• Very distant train noise, rarely heard
• Some plane noise from nearby airport
• Some neighbor noise from large groups

Site:

• #316, back in, gravel
• Needed to disconnect toad; parked in front of coach
• Level
• Medium site: about 60 feet long by about 35 feet wide
• Picnic table & fire pit on concrete patio

Utilities:

• 50 amp power, conveniently located
• 80 PSI water, conveniently located
• Good sewer connection, fairly conveniently located (1 10-foot + 1 4-foot pipes needed)

Internet (in usage priority order):

• Starlink direct: 85 Mbps down, 5 Mbps up, 45 ms ping
• Starlink via modem: 10-45 Mbps down, 3 Mbps up, 40 ms ping
• Campground Wi-Fi: 30-77 Mbps down, 2 Mbps up, 50 ms ping (used on phones away from site)
• Verizon: 30 Mbps down, 4 Mbps up, 60 ms ping
• T-Mobile: 5-33 Mbps down, 0.5-3 Mbps up, 60-666 ms ping
• AT&T: 2 Mbps down, 0.1 Mbps up, 64 ms ping

Amenities:

• Garbage dumpsters (really should have pickup from site in a resort!)
• Swimming pools
• Cafe being renovated, so had food trucks instead

Our review on Campground Reviews:

Gorgeous campground in the heart of Paso Robles wine country

We stayed here for 10 days in order to experience the wine country scene and explore the central coast. Our site was a deluxe back-in, overlooking a greenspace and vineyard, which we absolutely loved. Our site was meticulously clean and perfectly flat. During the week, this place was absolutely wonderful and quiet. On the weekends, however, it got very busy with groups and families, so it was a bit noisier.

I have to agree with another review that pointed out they don’t enforce the “no political flags” rule because there were quite a few during our stay, which is unfortunate and creates a less-welcoming atmosphere. We also had issues with our neighbor not keeping their three dogs leashed or under voice control, and we had to repeatedly shoo them away from our living area.

The one thing keeping me from giving this a 5-star review is the lack of garbage pickup from our site. At such an expensive resort, it really should be a standard amenity. We camped at Sun Outdoors Paso Robles in a Motorhome.

Tip for Other Campers: Do the food & wine pairing experience at Le Cuvier, have lunch (and get the BLT!) at Parrish, and experience the art installations at Sensorio. It’s also an easy (and beautiful) drive to Hearst Castle and the coast.

Interactive map:

Campground map:

Our site before parking:

Our site:

Our site and beyond:

Moon:

Utilities:

Working outside:

Patio with our griddle, rugs, tables, chairs, and Starlink:

Hot dogs and beans:

Another day, a griddle pork loin and pasta salad:

A nice view from the patio:

A somewhat reduced view once a neighbor turned up:

Open space behind our site:

Other sites:

The Valley Pavilon:

Grills, fire pit, etc:

Hot tub; we enjoyed having it to ourselves on our first evening:

Welcome Center:

Entrance sign:

We stayed at Sun Outdoors San Diego Bay in Chula Vista, California. (Campground Reviews listing.)

Party city. We don’t like parties.

Dates:

• Check in: 2023-04-08
• Check out: 2023-04-16
• 8 nights

Weather:

• Mostly cloudy, one day with drizzle
• High temps ranging between 57-70°F, lows around 48-52°F
• Negligible wind, up to 16 MPH gusts

Noise:

• Some distant freeway noise
• No road noise
• No train noise most of the time; once or twice distant noise
• Frequent helicopter noise from a naval air station
• Lots of neighbor noise (this was a bit more of a “fun” resort than we usually prefer)

Site:

• #16, back-in, concrete
• Needed to disconnect toad; parked next to coach
• Level
• Small site: about 50 feet long by about 25 feet wide
• Patio table, chairs, plumbed-in gas fire pit on concrete
• Shrubs (in need of a trim)

Utilities:

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

Internet (in usage priority order):

• T-Mobile: 35-46 Mbps down, 13-21 Mbps up, 30 ms ping
• AT&T: 1 Mbps down, 3 Mbps up, 45 ms ping
• Verizon: 2 Mbps down, 1 Mbps up, 45 ms ping
• Starlink: not used
• Campground Wi-Fi: not used

Amenities:

• Central garbage compactor, not very convenient (a resort really should have garbage collection from site)
• Swimming pool & hot tubs
• Onsite cafe with delivery to site

Our review on Campground Reviews:

Party central, not the place for quiet contemplation

This was the most expensive place we’ve ever stayed and I really wanted to like it but wound up counting the hours until we departed. Perhaps it was because it was spring break, but this resort was packed with rowdy groups and masses of kids. You could hardly drive down the road without dodging the corn hole games, kids on bikes, adults on skateboards, etc. And, oh the noise, noise, noise. If the neighbors weren’t blasting their music or shrieking, the park itself had music blaring from the pool area or roving the streets. We work during the week, so it was unconducive to concentration. It’s petty, but the biggest complaint is that for $165/night they should have trash pickup at your site. They have one dumpster/compactor and it’s equally inconvenient wherever you are in the park. They also have annoyingly planted trees right next to the patio on the northern sites along the fence. We couldn’t get between our front door and the patio without squeezing between the tree and our slide. On the plus side, the cafe and bar were nice and we enjoyed several meals there, and the plumbed-in gas firepit at our site was a nice addition. The Bayshore Bikeway runs right by the park and it was nice to ride around the bay. We camped at Sun Outdoors San Diego Bay in a Motorhome. 

Tip for Other Campers: San Diego Zoo is worth the hype (order your tickets online to save a few bucks and avoid the line at the park), and Balboa Park has so much to see. The Cabrillo National Monument is also a great place to check out.

Interactive map; the RV park is too new for the satellite image as of this writing, but may be there if you check later:

Campground map:

Our site:

We rode our bikes:

This shrub was touching our coach; I trimmed it back so we could access the patio:

A nice plumbed-in fire pit:

We like places with on-site restaurants, even better when they will deliver to our site, which we took advantage of on travel day; we’re always tired then, so nice to not to have to cook or go out:

We went to the cafe a few times:

Breakfast:

Another day, free drinks from tokens given on arrival:

Dinner:

Another breakfast:

This place had a definite party vibe, including roving live music on our first day:

Other sites:

Cabins:

Pool area:

Finally, another view of our site, with our coach packed up and ready to leave:

This was a nice, new resort. We enjoyed the convenience of the cafe. But we didn’t enjoy the noisy neighbors, with lots of people having large gatherings in front of their sites (and on the roads), with loud talking, loud children, and loud music. Not our kind of place.

We stayed at Orangeland RV Park in Orange (Los Angeles), California. (Campground Reviews listing.)

Our second stay here; a nice park, just a few miles from Disneyland.

Dates:

• Check in: 2023-04-01
• Check out: 2023-04-08
• 7 nights

Weather:

• Sunny
• High temps ranging between 64-82°F, lows around 44-54°F
• Little wind; one day of 28 MPH gusts

Noise:

• No freeway noise, some road noise
• No train noise, but distant horns a few times
• Some neighbor noise

Site:

• #96, pull-through, asphalt
• Didn’t need to disconnect toad; parked in front of coach
• Fairly level
• Small site: about 50 feet long by about 30 feet wide
• Patio table & chairs on asphalt
• Orange trees that can be harvested

Utilities:

• 50 amp power, somewhat conveniently located
• 80 PSI water, conveniently located
• Unthreaded sewer connection, conveniently located (1 10-foot pipe needed)

Internet (in usage priority order):

• T-Mobile: 78-86 Mbps down, 2 Mbps up, 30 ms ping
• AT&T: 20 Mbps down, 6-18 Mbps up, 30 ms ping
• Verizon: 21-28 Mbps down, 16-23 Mbps up, 50 ms ping
• Starlink: not used
• Campground Wi-Fi: not used

Amenities:

• Garbage collection from site
• Swimming pool & hot tub
• Package delivery to office
• Just a few miles from Disneyland

Our review on Campground Reviews:

The place to stay for Disneyland

This was our second time staying here, and I would happily stay again. For an urban setting so close to Disneyland and other attractions, they could easily charge more than they do. This park is genuinely a park, with lovely landscaping and attention to service. We had site 96, which was an interestingly located pull-through site right at the end of a row close to the office. The only downside to the location is there is no privacy screening between your living area and the check-in area. There’s entertainment value in watching the flow of people coming into the park, but I would’ve preferred a nice trellis or hedge to look at. We also enjoyed being close enough to civilization to order food delivery and get some service done on our rig while here. But the main draw, of course, is being a 10-minute drive to Disneyland. We camped at Orangeland RV Park in a Motorhome.

Interactive map:

Campground map:

They also have a map on a wall showing where all of the fruit trees are:

Our site:

Our site was near the registration area:

Setting up our site; here’s a video of a leveling jack going down:

Griddle, filters, and water softener stored for transport:

Setting up utilities:

A nice thing about being in a city; we can get pizza delivery:

Working outside:

The registration area was so close:

A nice thing about this park is they offer trash pickup from the site (and even provide a bag):

The Orangeland RV Park entrance:

Office:

Registration area:

Pool:

Hot tub (which was undergoing renovations last time we were here):

Putting area:

Games:

Pool table:

Outdoor livng area:

Outdoor kitchen:

Covered playground:

The local bus goes through the park:

A Tiffin Phaeton arrival:

Other RV sites: