Palm Springs RV Resort (TT) - Palm Desert CA

RATING: ♦♦♦♦

• Dates: Feb 1, 2019 – Feb 9, 2019
• Length of stay: 8 days
• Cost per night: $0
• Discount: Thousand Trails
• Hookups: 30 amp electric, sewer, and water.
• Site number/quality: #8. Flat, asphalt pad with sandy sitting area. However, the sandy soil easily turns into sticky mud with the slightest bit of water.
• Park Quality: This park has two distinct parts: an older pull-through section and a newer back-in section. We tried the back-in section first, because it has 50 amp service. But the sites were very tight because of an overabundance of large palm trees. So we moved to the pull-throughs, which are roomier, but only have 30 amp. It’s hard to be too critical of the park though, because it is located in such a wonderful and convenient place. Most Thousand Trails parks are out in the country, and this one was too, when it was first built. But the town has grown around it, making it one of the most suburban TT parks we’ve ever stayed at. There is lots to do.
• Access: The campground is next to I-10 at the Washington St exit.
• Connectivity: AT&T is weak. T-Mobile is strong.
• Return yes/no?: Absolutely.
• Notes: Debbie and Reed came from Phoenix for a visit. We took the Palm Springs Aerial Tramway up to Mount San Jacinto, where we were greeted by a winter blizzard at 8,500 feet. We came back down to the desert floor and took a walk around downtown Palm Springs, where the weather was a sunny 70 degrees. The next day, we toured the Moorten Botanical Gardens, which has specimens of nearly every cactus on earth.
• Website: Palm Springs RV Park

Medina Lake RV Campground (TT) - Lakehills TX

RATING: ♦♦♦♦+

• Length of stay: 21 days
• Cost of per night: $3/night for 50 amp
• Discount: Thousand Trails
• Hook ups: 50 amp electric, water, and sewer.
• Site number/quality: #F154. Gravel pad, asphalt picnic area. Shade trees on three sides. Good amount of room between sites. Nice level site with a great view of the lake out the front window.
• Park Quality: This is a very quiet campground about 40 miles west of San Antonio. It sits on a large piece of property directly on the shores of Medina Lake. The park is home to a large herd of very tame deer. Corn is sold at the ranger station and campers are encouraged to feed them. Besides the tame deer, we saw many wild turkeys and jack rabbits. It’s a happy place.
• Access: The campground is 30 miles southwest of I-10. It’s not hard to get to, just not very convenient. There’s a small grocery store about 3 miles outside of the campground, and a Walmart and HEB in Boerne, a 35 minute drive away. The town of Helotes is a 45 minute drive toward San Antonio. You can find anything you need there.
• Connectivity: Verizon OK, AT&T OK, and T-Mobile OK.
• Return yes/no?: Perhaps.
• Deer and Bennetts: It was a treat for us to meet and spend some time with Marc and Julie Bennett of RVLove, who were also staying at Medina Lake. We started following their website and YouTube channel before we went fulltime in our motorhome. Julie’s post on the Thousand Trails camping membership was instrumental in our decision to join. It was fun to see them in the park and share happy houring, pie eating, and deer feeding. We got to see the beautiful upgrades they’ve made to their recently purchased 1999 Country Coach Intrigue 40′ motorhome. They will soon be sharing videos on what they did. We can’t wait to see how similar upgrades can be made to our own travel home. (Oh boy, look out budget!) Here is a link to an earlier review of theirs of Medina Lake Thousand Trails park.

• Notes: The lake was very low when we arrived, and kind of ugly with a lot of exposed shoreline. But within a few hours of setting up, it began to rain. It continued raining for seven days. The final day was the worst. Much of south and central Texas suffered serious flooding. A campground a few miles north of us was flooded so badly that two RVs were washed away. This was happening at the same time Hurricane Florence was hitting the Carolinas, so the floods in Texas didn’t get much press. Fortunately the worst thing that happened to us was that Becky had left her sandals outside before the worst part of the storm, and they washed away. We eventually found them out in the road. The good news is that the lake level returned to normal.
• Website: Thousand Trails Medina Lake

Colorado River RV Campground (TT) - Columbus TX

RATING: ♦♦♦♦+

• Length of stay: 12 days
• Cost of per night: $3/night for 50 amp
• Discount: Thousand Trails
• Hook ups: 50 amp electric, water, and sewer. No cable TV.
• Site number/quality: #D22. Gravel pad, nicely angled, but a bit muddy. Grassy picnic area. Several large trees, ample shade.
• Park Quality: This is a quiet park compared to the last one in Conroe. It’s situated along the Colorado River (no relation to the river in Arizona), just west of Columbus (no relation to the city in Ohio). The campground has an upper and a lower section. We stayed in the lower section by the river. This section was badly flooded during Hurricane Harvey in 2017. Several sites were completely washed away. On the positive side, the flooded sites that didn’t wash away, including ours, got updated electrical and water hookups. The office area, pool, and rec area are a little dated but well kept.  This is a typical Thousand Trails with gravel sites and roads. Our only complaint is that the paved entrance way leading to the guard shack is a quarter mile of potholes. Thankfully , the gravel roads inside the campground are mostly pothole free.
• Access: The campground is on a county road a mile off TX-71, which is a major four lane highway, and about 5 miles north of I-10.
• Connectivity: Verizon OK, AT&T strong, T-Mobile strong.
• Return yes/no?: Sure
• Notes: The campground is in the country. Not much to do but relax. Lots of deer roam the campground. Some campers feed then, though the campground brochure/map says not to.
• Website: Colorado River RV Campground