We visited McGinn’s PistachioLand Home of the World’s Largest Pistachio. A fun roadside attraction that we saw in passing a couple of years ago, but got around to visiting this time.
PistachioLand:
Nutastic!
food
A sampling of interesting restaurants.
Las Cruces KOA Journey
We stayed at Las Cruces KOA Journey in Las Cruces, New Mexico. (Campground Reviews listing.)
Our third visit to this RV park with a nice view.
Dates:
- Check in: 2024-11-10
- Check out: 2024-11-17
- 7 nights
Weather:
- Mostly sunny
- High temps ranging between 68-74°F, lows around 36-45°F
- Some windy days, gusts to 27 MPH
Noise:
- Negligible road noise (distant freeway noise, only audible outside)
- No train noise
Site:
- #53, pull-through, gravel (with some concrete strips that are only useful for trailers)
- Didn’t need to disconnect toad; parked behind coach
- Fairly level; high on passenger side; used hydraulic leveling
- Site about 90 feet long by about 18 feet wide
- Picnic table on gravel; no fire pit
- Limited mountain view
Utilities:
- 50 amp power, a little inconveniently located
- 60 PSI water, somewhat conveniently located
- Good sewer connection, inconveniently located (3 10-foot pipes needed)
Internet (in usage priority order):
- T-Mobile: 100-135 Mbps down, 18-21 Mbps up, 25 ms ping
- AT&T: 29 Mbps down, 9 Mbps up, 150 ms ping
- Verizon: 5 Mbps down, 5 Mbps up, 100 ms ping
- Starlink: not used
- Campground Wi-Fi: not used
Amenities:
- Seasonally closed pool
- Garbage pickup from site (they didn’t used to offer this, so yay)
- Package delivery to office
Our review on Campground Reviews:
Nice place to stop in Las Cruces
This was our third time staying here and our first time not staying in one of the “view” sites, although we still had a decent view of both mountain ranges. This campground is conveniently off I-10 and has easy access to anything in Las Cruces. We camped at Las Cruces KOA Journey in a Motorhome.
An interactive map of the park:
RV park map:
Our site (with empty sites on either side, making it look more spacious than it was):
Utilities weren’t super convenient; having to use three 10-foot sewer hoses wasn’t ideal (the concrete pad and utilities were clearly set up with trailers in mind):
We enjoyed a local pizza delivery on our last night; tasty, fast, and inexpensive:
A neighbor fiver pulling out, with an unusual hitch:
Other sites:
Community room:
Playground:
Nice view:
Sun rays through dust on the way back to the campground from a day trip:
Dust obscuring Las Cruces:
Still a nice RV park. No doubt we’ll stay here yet again in the future. (See our previous two stays for more photos.)
Travel from Tucson, Arizona to Las Cruces, New Mexico
We drove our coach 258 miles, about four hours of driving, from Tucson, Arizona to Las Cruces, New Mexico.
Here’s a map showing our route, heading east:
An interactive map:
An example of why we don’t use picnic tables at campsites, at least without a tablecloth (but usually not even then): our neighbor was working on his sewer pipe connectors on the table:
Joining I-10 East:
Mountains:
Interesting rocks:
The Thing? travel center (post about the attraction later this week):
We had DQ there for lunch:
The Thing? and other swag:
More interesting rocks:
Rest area:
Paladin sprawled on the dash as we got underway again:
Welcome to New Mexico:
“Zero visibility possible”… yes, anything’s possible:
“Gusty winds may exist”… indeed:
Fun with zoom:
Instructions on what to do if caught in a dust storm (not very readable in this pic, but basically pull onto shoulder, turn off engine, foot off brake, lights off… presumably to save battery power):
Welcome to Las Cruces:
We really enjoy the mountains behind Las Cruces:
Our destination, the Las Cruces KOA Journey:
All decked out for the holidays (in early November):
The Living Desert Zoo and Gardens
We visited The Living Desert Zoo and Gardens in Palm Desert, California. It is one of the nicest zoos we’ve been to; not because it has a lot of animals; it doesn’t have as many as others. But because it specializes in desert animals and plants, and harmonizes the gardens so well with the area.
This was our second visit to this zoo, though the first time was somewhat different: we attended some holiday lights in December 2021.
Here’s a map of the zoo; click or tap to see a larger map on their site (please let me know if the link breaks in the future):
An interactive map:
Entrance:
Animals:
A tasty lunch from their grill:
Also fascinating plants:
Miniature railway:
New area under construction:
Shields Date Garden
We visited Shields Date Garden in Indio, California, to have brunch, explore their garden, and browse their store.
Firstly we went to their restaurant, the Café at Shields, for brunch:
I had the Churro Waffle, and Jenn had the Beef Sopes:
There was live music (can’t really see him, but a guy playing a guitar):
After lunch, we explored The Walk, a garden path that winds through the date farm, with biblical statuary:
Ladders formerly used to harvest dates (nowadays they just use cherry pickers):
Then we watched their film about date growing and harvesting in the Romance Theatre (you can watch it on YouTube):
We perused their shop:
We bought a couple of date samplers, plus some Cactus Candy (that we’ve enjoyed elsewhere):
Finally, we got a date shake to share; it was very tasty:
A worthwhile visit in the Palm Springs area.
Orangeland RV Park
We stayed at Orangeland RV Park in Orange (Los Angeles), California. (Campground Reviews listing.)
Our third stay here. Tight sites, but a few miles from Disneyland.
Dates:
- Check in: 2024-10-06
- Check out: 2024-10-13
- 7 nights
Weather:
- Partly sunny
- High temps 80-85°F, lows 58-61°F
- Negligible wind, gusts to 11 MPH
Noise:
- No freeway noise, some road noise
- No train noise, but distant horns a few times
- Occasional helicopter noise
- Some neighbor noise
Site:
- #26, pull-through, asphalt
- Needed to disconnect toad, parked beside coach
- Somewhat unlevel site; high in front and passenger side; used hydraulic leveling
- Asphalt driveway about 45 feet long by 12 feet wide
- 15 feet to neighbors on both sides
- Table, chairs, and umbrella on 9×8 feet stamped concrete patio
- Orange trees that can be harvested
- Fairly clean site (a couple small bits of trash)
Utilities:
- 50 amp power, very conveniently located
- 85 PSI water, conveniently located
- Loose sewer connection, very conveniently located (4 foot of pipes needed)
Internet (in usage priority order):
- T-Mobile: 5 Mbps down, 5-25 Mbps up, 30-40 ms ping
- AT&T: 18 Mbps down, 3-5 Mbps up, 30-45 ms ping
- Verizon: 5 Mbps down, 5 Mbps up, 25 ms ping
- Campground Wi-Fi: 5-6 Mbps down, 1-4 Mbps up, 5 ms ping
- Starlink: not used
Amenities:
- Garbage pickup from site
- Swimming pool and hot tub
- Package delivery to office
- A few miles to Disneyland
Our review on Campground Reviews:
Best urban campground
This was our third stay here and it’s still a favorite. They’ve raised the prices since last time, but it’s still a fair rate for the location and what it offers. The sites are on the smallish side, with one of our slides getting very intimate with one of the orange trees on our site, but it doesn’t feel cramped since the trees and other landscaping give a bit of a buffer. A quiet getaway it isn’t, but if you’re here, you’re probably doing Disney or any of the other things LA has to offer and not hanging out at your campsite, so it’s a pretty fair trade. We camped at Orangeland RV Park in a Motorhome.
Campground map:
An interactive map:
Our site:
A nice patio with table, chairs, and umbrella (but we also put out our own chairs, as the patio chairs weren’t all that comfortable for sitting for any length of time):
When staying in a city, it’s nice to be able to take advantage of pizza delivery:
And Chinese food delivery:
Utilities:
The sewer connection was loose, but protruding enough, so I used my Dump Buddy for the first time; it clamps on to the pipe and my hose to hold it in place:
Neighbor site after they left; there was a trailer there most of the week, but this shows an empty site:
We’d be happy to stay here again, but next time we might try another RV park that is even closer to Disneyland.
Thousand Trails Soledad Canyon
We stayed at Thousand Trails Soledad Canyon in Acton, California. (Campground Reviews listing.)
A fairly typical Thousand Trails campground, but with a recently renovated 50 amp section with large sites.
Dates:
- Check in: 2024-09-29
- Check out: 2024-10-06
- 7 nights
Weather:
- Sunny
- High temps 89-102°F (!), lows 63-73°F
- Negligible wind, gusts to 11 MPH
Noise:
- Some road noise
- Some train horn noise
- Little neighbor noise
Site:
- #K-45, pull-through, sand
- Didn’t need to disconnect toad, parked behind coach
- Mostly level site; high in back and driver side; used hydraulic leveling
- Large sand site about 65 feet long by 40 feet wide
- Picnic table
- A couple of tall trees
- Somewhat unclean site, as usual for Thousand Trails
- Non-invasive ants
Utilities:
- 50 amp power, very conveniently located
- 65 PSI water, very conveniently located
- Good sewer connection, a little inconveniently located (2 10-foot pipes needed)
Internet (in usage priority order):
- Starlink: 80-95 Mbps down, 15-19 Mbps up, 25 ms ping
- Verizon: 5 Mbps down, 1 Mbps up, 35-50 ms ping
- AT&T: 2-6 Mbps down, 0.05-0.25 Mbps up, 40-115 ms ping
- T-Mobile: negligible service
- Campground Wi-Fi: none
Amenities:
- Garbage dumpsters
- Pool
- Package delivery to welcome center for $10/package (didn’t use)
Our review on Campground Reviews:
Decent campground close to LA area
The Gold (K) section has all 50A full hookup sites, so we headed that way first. The sites are mostly pull-through and decently sized. We lucked out and got a site on the last row with a gorgeous view of the hills. These sites also have the advantage of being further from the railroad tracks along the park’s edge. The Platinum (B) section is half 50A but has the extreme disadvantage of being buddy sites. Other sections are 30A or W/E only, so there’s something for everyone. We camped at Thousand Trails Soledad Canyon in a Motorhome.
Campground map:
An interactive map:
Our site:
Utilities:
View out our windshield:
From outside:
Watching baseball on TV while griddling pancakes and bacon:
A neighbor had a cute outdoor cat that was curious about our truck:
Clubhouse:
Bathrooms:
Another neighbor site, with lots of space:
Some other sites were also very wide:
It was too hot to walk around to take pictures of other sites, so I flew my drone to get an aerial view; here’s above our site:
This is the 30 amp section, with buddy sites (eww):
Looking back to the 50 amp section where we were:
Heading back down:
We’d be happy to stay here again, though only in the 50 amp section; the rest of the park is 30 amp and buddy sites. Unfortunately, you never know what you’re going to get with Thousand Trails (though they are slowly rolling out a more conventional booking system).
Sequoia National Park: northern side
We visited Sequoia National Park in California, including the Lodgepole Visitor Center and Grill, and the General Sherman Tree, the largest tree in the world by volume. And saw a couple of bears in a tree.
An interactive map of our route:
Relief map in the visitor center:
General Sherman Tree trail, a half mile (each way) path from the parking lot to the tree, through the Giant Forest sequoia grove:
Footprint of Sherman Tree:
Path and steps:
General Sherman tree, the largest tree in the world by volume:
Other big trees:
Tree cross section:
On the way back up the path, we saw a couple of black bears in a tree (not very close, fortunately):
Baseball: San Francisco Giants vs San Diego Padres
We attended a baseball game between the San Francisco Giants and the San Diego Padres, playing at the Giant’s ballpark, Oracle Park in San Francisco, California. What we thought would be our last game of the year (but actually only our last game of the regular season), and the 8th ballpark we’ve visited in our stretch goal of visiting all of the ballparks (six new ones this year, plus re-visiting the Mariners’ park a couple of times).
Bay Bridge:
Oracle Park:
Team store:
Three times world champions:
Concessions:
Burritos:
View from outfield:
Big Coke bottle:
Big glove:
Cable car:
Ferry next to the ballpark:
View from outfield:
World Series rings:
View from our seats:
Orlando Cepeda memorial:
Mascot:
First pitches:
Out at first:
An advertising boat circled for half the game:
Exploring Oracle Park:
Boats and kayaks next to the ballpark, waiting for a splash home run:
Our traditional ballpark dessert:
Submarine pitcher:
Runs score:
That was a new splash hit home run:
Final scores:
Padres win, sorry Giants:
Ashland food
Some samples of food in Ashland, Oregon.
Firstly, an ice cream snack from Zoey’s Cafe & Artisan Ice Cream:
After the cabaret (which also had food, covered previously), we went to an old favorite, Louie’s of Ashland for a small dinner creekside:
Salad and truffle fries:
Before a play, we had a fancy dinner at Chateaubriand 36:
I enjoy absinthe (Jenn doesn’t), so I got an absinthe drip:
Finally, before another play we had dinner at Cocorico (which used to be Amuse):
Tasty stuff. Our only regret was that we missed the delightful breakfasts we used to be served when staying at Ashland Creek Inn each year. Now that we live in a motorhome, we don’t have that particular pleasure anymore.