Orangeland RV Park

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:

Map

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

Fruit tree map

Our site:

Our site

Our site

Our site

Our site

Our site was near the registration area:

Our site

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

Griddle, filters, and water softener stored for transport:

Filters and water softener

Setting up utilities:

Setting up utilities

Setting up utilities

Utilities

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

Pizza delivery

Working outside:

Working outside

The registration area was so close:

Registration area

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

Trash pickup

The Orangeland RV Park entrance:

Orangeland RV Park entrance

Entrance

Office:

Office

Registration area:

Registration area

Pool:

Pool

Pool

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

Hot tub

Putting area:

Putting area

Games:

Games

Pool table:

Pool table

Outdoor livng area:

Outdoor livng area

Outdoor kitchen:

Outdoor kitchen

Covered playground:

Covered playground

The local bus goes through the park:

Bus

A Tiffin Phaeton arrival:

Tiffin Phaeton arrival

Other RV sites:

Other RV sites

Other RV sites

Travel from Yermo to Palm Desert, California

We drove our coach 146 miles, about three hours of driving, from Yermo, California to Palm Desert, California.

Here’s the map route, heading south:

Route

Interactive map, showing our stops and other potential stops:

Truck lane:

Truck lane

Fuel stop:

Fuel stop

Diesel

Paladin in the steps:

Paladin in the steps

Highway CA-247:

Highway CA-247

Highway CA-247

Highway CA-247

Highway CA-247

Highway CA-247

Cafe 247, an interesting lunch stop with parking big enough for us:

Cafe 247

They were having a motorcycle gathering, which made it feel like a biker bar, but wasn’t:

Cafe 247

Cafe 247

Cafe 247

Cafe 247

Cafe 247

Cafe 247

Cafe 247

We bought a loaf from Banana Bread Man out front:

Banana Bread Man

Cafe 247

Cafe 247

Cafe 247

Highway CA-247

Highway CA-247

8% grade:

8% grade

Highway CA-62:

Highway CA-62

Wind turbines:

Wind turbines

Mountains:

Mountains

Palm Springs:

Palm Springs

Our destination:

Our destination

Our destination

Peggy Sue’s Diner

While staying in Yermo, California, we had dinner at Peggy Sue’s 50’s Diner, a classic roadside diner built in 1954, and restored with lots of movie memorabilia. And a 5 & Dime store and dinosaur park.

Peggy Sue's Diner

Peggy Sue's Diner

Peggy Sue's Diner

Peggy Sue's Diner

Peggy Sue's Diner

Peggy Sue's Diner

Peggy Sue's Diner

Menu:

Menu

Menu

Menu

Peggy Sue's Diner

Malt shake:

Malt shake

Beverage

Jenn’s French dip and curly fries:

Jenn's French dip and curly fries

My Hawaiian burger, curly fries, and potato salad:

My Hawaiian burger and curly fries

Peggy Sue's Diner

Peggy Sue's Diner

Peggy Sue's Diner

5 and Dime store:

5 and Dime store

5 and Dime store

Diner-saur park:

Diner-saur park

Diner-saur park

Diner-saur park

Diner-saur park

Diner-saur park

Diner-saur park

Diner-saur park

Diner-saur park

Diner-saur park

Diner-saur park

Diner-saur park

Travel from Death Valley to Yermo, California

We drove our coach 169 miles, about three hours of driving, from Death Valley, California to Yermo, California.

Here’s the map route, heading south:

Route

Interactive map, showing our stops:

Leaving the campground:

Leaving campground

Leaving Death Valley:

Leaving Death Valley

Paladin sleeping:

Paladin sleeping

Leaving Death Valley

Leaving Death Valley

Paladin in an unapproved place; he was freaking out a bit; sometimes he forgets about travel days:

Paladin in an unapproved place

“Thanks for Experiencing Your National Park”:

Thanks for Experiencing Your National Park

Bumpy road:

Bumpy road

Motorcycles:

Motorcycles

The sign could use a refresh:

The sign could use a refresh

Mountain

Bumpy road

A roadside stop for a break:

Stop

Interesting hills:

Interesting hills

Interesting hills

A straight road; using a high zoom really emphasizes the bumps:

Straight road

Mountains

Lunch stop in Baker, with a nice big truck/RV parking area; always appreciated:

Lunch stop in Baker

The World’s Tallest Thermometer:

World's Tallest Thermometer

We had lunch at the Mad Greek Cafe:

Mad Greek Cafe

Mad Greek Cafe

Mad Greek Cafe

The Thermometer again:

World's Tallest Thermometer

World's Tallest Thermometer

Zzyzx Road:

Zzyzx Road

Mountains

EddieWorld, apparently California’s largest gas station (looks pretty small compared to Buc-ees in Texas, but we haven’t actually visited either):

EddieWorld

Ghost Town Road:

Ghost Town Road

Our destination:

Our destination

Our destination

The Beatles Love Cirque du Soleil

One night while staying in Las Vegas, we went to the strip for a nice steakhouse dinner and The Beatles Love Cirque du Soleil show.

The Mirage hotel:

The Mirage

The Mirage foyer:

The Mirage foyer

We were early, so played some slot machines, to make an offering to the gods of luck:

Willy Wonka slot machine

Willy Wonka slot machine

Slot machine

Slot machine

Slot machines

Slot machine

Slot machine

Slot machine

Slot machine

Then checked out a swag shop:

Swag shop

And The Beatles Shop:

The Beatles Shop

Then went to the Stack restaurant for dinner:

Stack restaurant

Martinis:

Martinis

Salads:

Salad

Salad

Steaks:

Steak

Steak

Adult tater tots:

Dessert

Desserts:

Dessert

Dessert

Professional photos:

David and Jenn

David and Jenn

Food and beverage:

Food and beverage

The Love show (they were okay with photos, a little unusually, so of course I took a bunch):

Love show

Love show

Love show

Love show

Love show

Love show

Love show

Love show

Love show

Love show

Love show

Love show

Love show

Love show

Love show

Love show

Love show

The Mirage:

The Mirage

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, Arizona

After Grand Canyon West, we went back to Kingman, and had dinner at a classic Route 66 diner.

Welcome to Kingman:

Welcome to Kingman

Route 66 buildings in Kingman:

Kingman buildings

Kingman silo

Kingman buildings

A drive-through Route 66 sign:

Drive-through Route 66 sign

Kingman buildings

We had dinner at the Mr D’z Route 66 Diner:

Mr D'z Route 66 Diner

Mr D'z Route 66 Diner

Mr D'z Route 66 Diner

Mr D'z Route 66 Diner

Mr D'z Route 66 Diner

Menus:

Menus

Special shakes:

Special shakes

Mr D'z Route 66 Diner

Mr D'z Route 66 Diner

Mr D'z Route 66 Diner

I had (with Jenn’s help) a lavish Chocolate Pot of Gold shake:

Chocolate Pot of Gold shake

Fries and burger with bacon, egg, hash browns:

Fries and burger with bacon, egg, hash browns

Fries and burger with bacon, egg, hash browns

French toast etc:

French toast etc

Route 66 truck:

Route 66 truck

Old police car outside the diner:

Old police car

I may have knocked a few years off my life with that shake and dinner, but it was tasty!

Grand Canyon West

We visited Grand Canyon West, a commercial operation of the Hualapai Tribal Nation.

On the way there, we enjoyed seeing lots of Joshua trees and snowy mountains:

Joshua trees and snowy mountain

Joshua trees and mountain

Joshua trees and snowy mountain

Road

The sign for Grand Canyon West:

Grand Canyon West

The main terminal; there is lots of parking, an airport, large heliport, and gift store here:

Main terminal

One catches buses to reach the other two areas:

Bus

The first stop is Eagle Point:

Eagle Point

Eagle Point

Do you see the eagle?

Eagle Point

A selfie:

Selfie

The main attraction of Grand Canyon West is the Skywalk, a horseshoe-shaped glass bridge that extends 70 feet out over the canyon:

Skywalk

Skywalk

Skywalk

We went to the restaurant for lunch first, which had a great view over the Skywalk:

Skywalk

Skywalk

Skywalk

Skywalk

Skywalk

Skywalk

No personal belongings allowed on the Skywalk:

No personal belongings allowed on the Skywalk

Line:

Line

We put our stuff in a locker:

Lockers

They have photographers on the Skywalk to take posed pictures:

Skywalk

Skywalk

Skywalk

Skywalk

Skywalk

Some stock pics of the Skywalk that came with our photo downloads:

Skywalk

Skywalk

Skywalk

Skywalk

Skywalk

Skywalk

Skywalk

After we experienced the Skywalk, we headed outside and looked at some Native American tribal structure exhibits:

Native American tribal structures

Native American tribal structures

Native American tribal structures

Native American tribal structures

Native American tribal structures

Native American tribal structures

Native American tribal structures

Native American tribal structures

Then caught a bus to Guano Point:

Guano Point

Posing ravens:

Guano Point

Nice Grand Canyon views:

Grand Canyon

Grand Canyon

Grand Canyon

Grand Canyon

Grand Canyon

Grand Canyon

Selfie

Grand Canyon

Grand Canyon

This point is named for a guano mine (harvesting bat droppings for fertilizer); there are still some ruins of a tram used for that operation:

Tram ruins

Tram ruins

Grand Canyon

Grand Canyon

Grand Canyon

Grand Canyon

Tram ruins

Tram ruins

Grand Canyon

Grand Canyon

Tram ruins

Selfie

Tram ruins

Tram ruins

Tram ruins

Grand Canyon

Grand Canyon

Grand Canyon

Guano Point

Guano Point

Grand Canyon

Grand Canyon

Guano Point

Selfie

Raven

Raven

Raven

Ravens

A long line for the bus back to the terminal (it was much longer when we joined it):

Line for the bus

On the way back to Kingman, “Expect Cattle”:

"Expect Cattle"

Yep, cows were expected:

Cows

A fun experience, and a different perspective on the Grand Canyon.