South Jetty RV Park (TT) - Florence OR

RATING: ♦♦♦

• Dates: Jun 4, 2019 – Jun 12, 2019
• Length of stay: 8 nights.
• Cost per night: $0.
• Discount: Thousand Trails Membership.
• Hookups: 30 amp electric, water, and sewer.
• Site number/quality: #A-4. Level gravel pad with picnic table. End site with neighbor only on one side. Room to park and sit.
• Park Quality: Thousand Trails RV parks are often hit or miss, and some, like this one, have lots of variations among the sites. When we arrived, there were relatively few sites available, and none had full hookups. Most of the open sites had issues: too narrow, too short, too unlevel. We finally found one buried in the trees that would work for a night. Becky learned from the ranger that a full hookup site was opening up in the morning, and first thing the next day she went over to claim it before anyone else. The second site was much better, and allowed us to enjoy our time at South Jetty. We would have hated spending a week in the first site. We were especially glad to have sewer, since the park’s dump station was closed. The park has plans to rebuild it sometime in the future. In the meantime, they have set aside a small back-in site near the exit with a sewer for dumping. But frankly, it’s a poor substitute.
• Access: Easy access off US-101 just south of the nice little town of Florence, which is situated at the mouth of the Siuslaw River. There is ample dining and shopping in town.
• Connectivity: Verizon-OK, AT&T-Good, and T-Mobile-Poor.
• Return yes/no?: Probably not. If we were to return to the area, we would probably stay in one of the many state park campgrounds along the coast.
• Notes: The best thing about this park is that it is located along the Oregon coast. And while the park is sub-par, the coast is spectacular. We spent some time at the beach, which is only a short drive away, and is part of the Oregon Dunes National Recreation Area. We also took a day trip 45 miles up the coast to another Thousand Trails park, Whalers Rest. The drive was fantastic, but the park wasn’t. We had planned on staying there for a few days, but after seeing it, we decided not to. Despite our disappointment with these two TT parks, they both were nearly full during the week and completely full on the weekend. I guess the surrounding area makes up for what the parks lack.
• Website: South Jetty RV Park

Bend-Sunriver RV Campground (TT) - Bend OR

RATING: ♦♦♦

• Dates: May 19, 2019 – Jun 2, 2019
• Length of stay: 14 nights.
• Cost per night: $0.
• Discount: Thousand Trails Membership.
• Hookups: 30 amp and water, but no sewer. There is a dump station.
• Site number/quality: #J5. Level and roomy site on wide gravel pad with picnic table. Many tall pine trees for shade.
• Park Quality: Better than average Thousand Trails campground. Clean and generally in good shape. Our site had a new picnic table and fire ring. The park is located in a very scenic area on the bank of the Little Deschutes River. Mount Bachelor, which is a major ski destination only 25 miles away, provides a magnificent backdrop, and was still covered in snow in May.
• Access: Easy access about 2 miles off U.S. 97 between the towns of La Pine and Bend OR, each of which is about 15 miles away to the north and south.
• Connectivity: Verizon-OK, AT&T-Strong, and T-Mobile-OK.
• Return yes/no?: Yes.
• Notes: We visited the towns of Sunriver, La Pine, and Bend. This part of Oregon is in the midst of volcanoes, both ancient and active. We drove up to the Newberry Volcano National Monument which is nearby.
• Website: Bend-Sunriver RV Campground

Wilderness Lakes RV Park (TT) - Menifee CA

RATING: ♦♦♦

• Dates: Mar 10, 2019 – Apr 1, 2019
• Length of stay: 22 nights
• Cost per night: $0 for first 21 nights, $30 for 22nd night.
• Discount: Thousand Trails
• Hookups: 50 amp, water, and sewer.
• Site number/quality: #147. Nice wide site. However, there was a low-lying area around the site that collected water when it rained. We had several days when we were surrounded by a large puddle 3-4 inches deep. Other sites had similar issues. Park maintenance pumped out water twice after rains.
• Park Quality: This a typical Thousand Trails park in most respects, except that unlike most which are in rural areas, this one is in the middle of the densely populated suburban communities that run along the I-215 corridor between Temecula and Riverside CA. The park is located within the Greater Los Angeles Metro Area, which has a population of nearly 20 million people. Wilderness Lakes bills itself as a “Los Angeles Area RV Camp,” even though the city of Los Angeles is 85 miles away.
• Access: The campground is just a few miles off the heavily traveled I-215.
• Connectivity: AT&T and T-Mobile were both weak.
• Return yes/no?: Sure, if we pass through this area again. But we would not make a special trip here.
• Notes: The name, Wilderness Lakes, is a bit deceiving, since there is neither wilderness nor lakes. There’s mostly just a lot of houses. It seems inevitable that the park, too, will become a housing development someday. The heavy traffic made travel unpleasant, even in the car. However, being in a suburban area does have some advantages. It’s close to shopping and dining.

In addition to having access to the usual Kohl’s, Lowe’s, and Target, we were able to catch up on our Amazon shopping. Unlike some campgrounds that don’t accept packages for their campers, Wilderness Lakes did, for a fee of $2 per package. We were able to have so many things delivered, such as our new oven that had been ordered back before Christmas, and we got new solar panels and wiring to customize the connection to our batteries.

We had been trying for months to have new curtains made for the front window of the RV, but finally decided to do them ourselves. We ordered a sewing machine from Amazon and fabric from fabrics.com. The curtains were sewn and put up in no time! It’s really great when we are able to get mail and packages on the road, something that most people take for granted.

We also were able to do a little exploring. Southern California was enjoying a spectacular wildflower bloom that was especially vibrant this year due to all the rain of recent months. Everywhere we drove, we saw flowers. One pretty drive was out to Walker Canyon near Lake Elsinore. Another was to the Jojoba Hills SKP co-op campground. Really beautiful place!

One last note. Becky was able to spend a nice day with her old boss and friend, Jennifer, in Carlsbad.

• Website: Wilderness Lakes RV Park