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:

Map

An interactive map:

Our site:

Our site

Our site

Our site

Utilities:

Utilities

View out our windshield:

View out our windshield

From outside:

View

View

Watching baseball on TV while griddling pancakes and bacon:

Watching baseball on TV, griddling pancakes and bacon

A neighbor had a cute outdoor cat that was curious about our truck:

Neighbor cat

Clubhouse:

Clubhouse

Bathrooms:

Bathrooms

Another neighbor site, with lots of space:

Neighbor site, with lots of space

Some other sites were also very wide:

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:

Aerial view

Aerial view

Aerial view

Aerial view

Aerial view

This is the 30 amp section, with buddy sites (eww):

Aerial view

Aerial view

Aerial view

Aerial view

Aerial view

Aerial view

Aerial view

Looking back to the 50 amp section where we were:

Aerial view

Aerial view

Aerial view

Aerial view

Aerial view

Heading back down:

Aerial view

Aerial view

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:

Relief map

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:

Sherman Tree trail

Footprint of Sherman Tree:

Footprint of Sherman Tree

Path and steps:

Path and steps

General Sherman tree, the largest tree in the world by volume:

General Sherman tree

General Sherman tree

General Sherman tree

General Sherman tree

General Sherman tree

General Sherman tree

General Sherman tree

General Sherman tree

General Sherman tree

Other big trees:

Another tree

Another tree

Another tree

Tree cross section:

Tree cross section

On the way back up the path, we saw a couple of black bears in a tree (not very close, fortunately):

Bears in tree

Bears in tree

Bears in tree

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:

Bay Bridge

Bay Bridge

Bay Bridge

Bay Bridge

Oracle Park:

Oracle Park

Team store:

Team store

Oracle Park

Oracle Park

Three times world champions:

World champions

Concessions:

Concessions

Concessions

Concessions

Burritos:

Burritos

View from outfield:

View from outfield

Big Coke bottle:

Big Coke bottle

Big glove:

Big glove

Cable car:

Cable car

Ferry next to the ballpark:

Ferry

View from outfield:

View from outfield

View from outfield

World Series rings:

Rings

View from our seats:

View from our seats

View from our seats

View from our seats

Orlando Cepeda memorial:

Orlando Cepeda memorial

Mascot:

Mascot

First pitches:

First pitches

View from our seats

Pitching

Batting

Out at first:

Out at first

View from our seats

An advertising boat circled for half the game:

Boat circled for half the game

Batting

Exploring Oracle Park:

Oracle Park

Bridge view

Bridge view

Exploring

Exploring

Exploring

Boats and kayaks next to the ballpark, waiting for a splash home run: 

Exploring

Exploring

Our traditional ballpark dessert:

Our traditional ballpark dessert

Submarine pitcher:

Submarine pitcher

Runs score:

Run scores

Run scores

That was a new splash hit home run:

A new splah hit home run

Final scores:

Final scores

Padres win, sorry Giants:

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:

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:

Louie's of Ashland

Salad and truffle fries:

Salad snd truffle fries


Before a play, we had a fancy dinner at Chateaubriand 36:

Chateaubriand 36

Chateaubriand 36

Appertizers

Mains

Dessert menu

Absinthes

I enjoy absinthe (Jenn doesn’t), so I got an absinthe drip:

Absinthe drip

Absinthe drip

David with absinthe

Desserts


Finally, before another play we had dinner at Cocorico (which used to be Amuse):

Cocorico

Cocorico

Menu

Front dining room

Selfie

Appertizers

Mains

Desserts

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.

Ashland wineries: Quady North & Belle Fiore

While staying in Ashland we visited a couple of wineries that we’ve enjoyed in the past: Quady North & Belle Fiore.

Firstly, Quady North:

Quady North

They used to have a tasting room in Jacksonville, but recently moved to a building at their winery:

Quady North

Quady North

Quady North

Quady North

We did a couple of tastings, which included some bonuses, along with a  charcuterie platter for our lunch:

Quady North

We bought several bottles, plus a box of wine:

Quady North


Another day, we went to Belle Fiore Winery, another winery we’ve liked:

Belle Fiore

A somewhat fancier building:

Belle Fiore

Belle Fiore

We did the Reserve and Chateau tastings:

Belle Fiore

Belle Fiore

I admit it, we mostly go here for their truffle fries; this time since this was our dinner we also got a charcuterie board, though I think we would have preferred just getting a full-sized order of fries (this was the small):

Belle Fiore

We didn’t buy any bottles from here; after doing the tastings, we decided we didn’t particularly enjoy any of them enough this time. Their wines are too tannic for us.

Travel from Welches, Oregon to Ashland, Oregon

We drove our coach 321 miles, about six hours of driving, from Welches to Ashland, Oregon.

Here’s a map showing our route, heading south:

Map

An interactive map:

Toading up in the maintenance area, as usual:

Toading up

“Welcome to Boring, Paired with Dull, Scotland”:

Welcome to Boring

Our favorite garden center in the Sandy area, Tony’s:

Tony's Garden Center

Willamette River:

Willamette River

Joining I-5 South, with heavy traffic:

Joining I-5 South

Rest area:

Rest area

I-5 South:

I-5 South

Lunch stop at Coburg Crossing Cafe at a TA Travel Center in Coburg, Oregon:

Coburg Crossing Cafe

Coburg Crossing Cafe menu

Breakfast for lunch

Rail bridge over North Umpqua River:

Rail bridge over North Umpqua River

“Slow Down” for a sharp curve:

Slow Down

Rest area:

Rest area

Nice Southern Oregon view:

Nice view

A glimpse of Mount Shasta from I-5 South:

Glimpse of Mount Shasta from I-5 South

A glimpse of downtown Ashland:

Glimpse of downtown Ashland

Emigrant Lake entrance:

Emigrant Lake entrance

The lake was very low (and has been for a long time):

Emigrant Lake

Unstaffed fee station (campers continue to site):

Emigrant Lake entrance

Entrance to The Point RV Campground (with a disconcertingly tight corner):

The Point RV Campground

Our site:

Our site

Baseball: Seattle Mariners vs New York Mets

The second Seattle Mariners game vs the New York Mets, at the Mariners’ ballpark, T-Mobile Field was originally going to be an afternoon game, but was pushed back a few hours as it was featured on ESPN’s Sunday Night Baseball.

We were there very early, having done the ballpark tour beforehand, so had ample opportunity to sample more ballpark food:

Burgers and fries

Pizza

Julio Rodríguez exercising, having been on the injury list until this game:

Julio Rodríguez exercising

Marking the batting boxes:

Marking the batting boxes

Jenn with inflatable trident:

Jenn with inflatable trident

Pitching:

Pitching

Batting:

Batting

Cal on base:

On base

ESPN Sunday Night Baseball:

ESPN Sunday Night Baseball

Pitching:

Pitching

Run scores:

Run scores

Salmon Run:

Salmon Run

Salmon

Home run:

Home run

Two runs score:

Two runs score

Even though I’ve been in this ballpark more times than any other over the years, and had explored in the previous game, plus the guided tour, I still wanted to explore some more, to take pictures from other angles and places:

Exploring the ballpark

Exploring the ballpark

Exploring the ballpark

Exploring the ballpark

Exploring the ballpark

Exploring the ballpark

Seattle

Exploring the ballpark

Exploring the ballpark

Exploring the ballpark

Exploring the ballpark

“Hotdogs from heaven”, a Mariners innovation where they drop hotdogs on little parachutes:

Hotdogs from heaven

Hotdogs from heaven

Hotdogs from heaven

The wave:

The wave

Cal Raleigh is nicknamed “Big Dumper” (because he has a big butt), and they played on that by having him read out messages to dump people:

Big Dumper

The M’s did rather well:

Scores

Mariners win:

Mariners win

Mariners winning dance

Sweep:

Sweep

Cal interview:

Cal interview

Mariners win

Baseball: Seattle Mariners vs New York Mets

While our coach was at home, we spent a couple of nights in a hotel in Seattle (across the road from the ballpark), to attend a couple of Seattle Mariners games vs the New York Mets, at the Mariners’ ballpark, T-Mobile Field (which I’ll always think of Safeco Field).

The first game was an evening one.

T-Mobile Park

We went in early via the bullpen gate, and grabbed some nachos from Edgar’s Cantina:

Edgar's Cantina

Nachos

The crowd out by the bullpens:

Crowd

Out-of-town scoreboard:

Out-of-town scoreboard

Retired numbers:

Retired numbers

Dave Niehaus, late voice of the Mariners:

Dave Niehaus

The Walk-Off Market, where you can just pick things up and walk out, via Amazon technology:

The Walk-Off Market

Root Sports TV set:

Root Sports set

Root Sports set

Welcome to T-Mobile Park:

Welcome to T-Mobile Park

Later we got some clam strips from Ivar’s Seafood & Chowder:

Ivar's Seafood & Chowder

Clam strips and fries

Cal heading to the bullpen:

Cal heading to the bullpen

Cal info:

Cal info

Heading back:

Heading back

Catching:

Catching

Catching

Batting

Batting

Baseball

Run scores:

Run scores

Pitching

Salmon run:

Fish race

Fish

Sweeping

Cameras

Exploring the ballpark:

Consessions

Consessions

Ballpark

Screen

Ballpark

Hydro Challenge

Seattle skyline:

Seattle skyline

Retractable roof over train tracks:

Retractable roof over train tracks

Hit It Here Cafe:

Hit It Here Cafe

Hit It Here Cafe

Ballpark

Moose:

Moose

Getting a lead

T-Mobile Park

Lights

Selfie

Pitching

Mariners win:

Mariners win

As soon as most people left, flocks of seagulls swooped in to scavage the waste food:

Seagulls scavaging the waste food

T-Mobile Park

We like it when the Mariners win.

Travel from Missoula, Montana to Quincy, Washington

We drove our coach 338 miles, about six hours of driving, from Missoula, Montana to Quincy, Washington.

Here’s a map showing our route, heading west:

Map route

An interactive map:

Clark Fork:

Clark Fork

45 MPH next 4 miles:

45 MPH next 4 miles

Rest area:

Rest area

Welcome to Idaho; Entering Pacific Time Zone:

Welcome to Idaho; Entering Pacific Time Zone

6% grade:

6& grade

Rest area:

Rest area

Welcome to Washington:

Welcome to Washington

Spokane:

Spokane

Bridges:

Bridges

Truck stop:

Truck stop

Iron Skillet for lunch:

Iron Skillet for lunch

Iron Skillet for lunch

Paladin on the dash:

Paladin on dash

Dust devil:

Dust devil

Rest area:

Rest area

Paladin in his dash bed while leaving the rest area:

Paladin in his dash bed

The farms along I-90 in Quincy had signs on their fences indicating what the crop was; we’ve sometimes not recognized a crop and wondered, so wish everyone would do this. Beans:

Beans

Potatoes:

Potatoes

Sweet corn:

Sweet corn

Timothy:

Timothy

Mural in Quincy:

Mural in Quincy

Heading down into the Columbia River gorge:

Columbia River

Our destination, Thousand Trails Crescent Bar:

Thousand Trails Crescent Bar

Our site:

Our site