Our favorite campgrounds - podcast 314
RV campgrounds - our favorites and our flops - RV podcast 314
What are the best campgrounds we've been to? What campgrounds would we avoid? On this week's RV podcast we share our favorite places - and some flops. We didn’t compare notes so Peggy and Tony each came with their own lists - and there are hardly any crossovers!
Other places to hear the podcast
Mentioned on this episode
You can see our full list of campground reviews here - below are the most recent campground reviews.
All campgrounds we’ve reviewed by location
Peggy’s List
Our review of the Palm Springs/Joshua Tree KOA
Our review of the Grand Canyon Caverns in Peach Springs
Our story about Jerome, Arizona and the Verde Valley RV Resort
Our story about Eagle RV Park and Thermopolis, Wyoming
Our review of Two Creeks Crossing RV Park in Livingston, Texas
Tony’s List
Our review of Coachella Lakes RV Resort in Palm Springs
Our review of Clear Lake Campground in Clearlake, CA
Our review of Roam America Horseshoe Bend Campground in Page, AZ
Our review of Benton Hot Springs in the Sierra Nevada mountains
Our review of Doran Beach State Park
If you’re confused about solar, battery power or just want to upgrade your RV we have found the solutions from ABC Upfitters are both reliable and exceptional.
We have a podcast episode and video where you can learn more here.
Automated transcript of StressLess Camping RV podcast episode 314
Peggy
On episode three fourteen of the Stressless Camping RV podcast.
Tony
We talk about some of our favorite
Peggy
And our least favorite.
Tony
Campgrounds that we've been to.
Peggy
We did not collaborate on this.
Tony
No. It's It's a surprise to
Peggy
each of us.
Tony
Yeah. That'll be good. We also have a great tip to help make your air conditioner be a cool cat this summer. Oh. We have this week's podcast along with tips, tricks, ideas, and lots of destinations at our home on the web at stresslesscamping.com.
Peggy
Thank you for joining us for episode 314. We hope that you have a wonderful and safe Independence Day and stressless camping. Welcome to the campground.
Tony
Yes. I'm Tony.
Peggy
I'm Peggy.
Tony
We're two RV industry veterans who travel part time
Peggy
Get a Rockwood mini lite.
Tony
Looking to share big adventures and help you with great tips
Peggy
Tricks.
Tony
And discounts. Campground.
Peggy
And campgrounds. Yeah. Tony and I decided that we were independently making lists of some of our favorite and kind of least favorite campgrounds that we've visited over the years. We did not talk about this list. For all we know, we have the same exact lists.
Tony
Probably do.
Peggy
We'll find out.
Tony
But who knows?
Peggy
But before we do that, uh, we wanted to just let you know that if you are at a campground that has very low water pressure or they put a goofy regulator on that isn't very good and you can't get it off, you know, sometimes it's better to just fill your freshwater tank and use that with the pump because the pump seems to always, in those situations, always have a good pressure, and the campgrounds could be way high, way low. Uh, of course, always use a pressure regulator
Tony
Yeah.
Peggy
Especially for high pressure. But if you just really feel like you're not getting enough shower water or whatever, fill your tank and use your pump. And that is a little tip from us.
Tony
The past few campgrounds we've been at, the water pressure was pretty lousy. And this one, they have a pressure regulator on the faucet
Peggy
that That we can't remove.
Tony
That we can't remove, and we'd prefer to use our own pressure regulator. So we just filled the tank, turned on the pump, and zip a de doo doo. All was good. Another little tip. You know, every week we talk about all the capabilities of our master volt power system that was installed by our friends at ABC Outfitters.
Tony
But there's something I don't think we talk about that much. Like, now, we're in a full hookup campground.
Peggy
Right?
Tony
Sure. There's no reason for us to need the battery, but it's hot.
Peggy
It's hot.
Tony
We're in Utah heading to
Peggy
Utah. He never knows where we are
Tony
out there. He never knows where we are.
Peggy
But we are in Utah. We've been in Nevada and Utah for several days, and it's been really, really warm. And so our way of combating that a little bit is since we have the amount of battery that we need for this, about an hour before we're gonna get to camp, we pull over somewhere, we turn on the air conditioner off of the inverter battery power, and we to get to camp and the camper is not a 100 degrees, sometimes it's 92. Sometimes it's 80.
Tony
Yeah. So, basically, we're running the AC off the battery.
Peggy
Right.
Tony
We did do an article about how long can we run this air conditioner Mhmm. On battery power. That is about to change. But you can run your air conditioner off battery. Our friend, Bill, uses his battery system and runs his gas absorption refrigerator on electric while he's driving.
Tony
So there's a lot of reasons to have a system that's really capable.
Peggy
Not just for spending a week in the desert off offline. Right? Off
Tony
grid. Yeah. Bring your own dug on grid with you. But Yeah. If that's the kind of quality and
Peggy
flexibility We like the flexibility. All the bilities. Yeah.
Tony
All the abilities. Even our friend, Billity, who runs his fridge off his battery. Interesting. Anyway, our friends at ABC Outfitters love to be able to custom tailor a system based on what you tell them you do. So if you would like that type of reliability and flexibility, give them a call at (574) 333-3225.
Peggy
That's (574) 333-3225, or use this QR code handily probably right here between us, and check us out check them out on our website about them.
Tony
Yeah. Well, this week, we had an idea. Uh, we were asked to come and write a story about this campground here, And we thought, you know, people ask us often, what's your favorite campground or where do you like to go? And we thought, what a great idea for a podcast since we didn't have a better idea. And So that's what we decided to do.
Peggy
Great idea if it's Yeah. At least some kind of idea.
Tony
Yeah. That's that's the fact, Jack.
Peggy
So where we are now, we're just gonna talk about this. Not as
Tony
Oh, wait. Let's open a beer.
Peggy
Well, okay. You do that. Here.
Tony
Have this gift.
Peggy
You do that.
Tony
So what we were well, tell them where we are and all of that, and I will come up. That's what
Peggy
I was trying to do, my love.
Tony
And I interrupted.
Peggy
We are actually at the Rome Echo Island, and it is in Colville, Utah. Just a little bit north and east, I think, of Salt Lake City, Utah.
Tony
And Park City, Utah.
Peggy
And north of Park City, Utah. And Rome had we've actually stayed at a Rome park before, and that was in Page, Arizona. And we enjoyed it quite a bit. And when Rome said, hey, do you wanna stay in Page? We said, well, we have.
Peggy
And they said, oops, sorry. How about, do you wanna stay in Colville? And so we're at the Echo Island Rome Park. It's really quite different from the Page Park.
Tony
Very.
Peggy
Um, I was this is not what I expected at all. When when well, honestly, when something's called a resort, I kind of expect a place where they've leveled the land, covered it in concrete, built a beautiful pool and a nice laundry room, and then, you know, planted some baby trees.
Tony
Yeah. That's not here.
Peggy
That is not this park.
Tony
Apparently, this place has been here for a long, long time.
Peggy
Yeah. I think so.
Tony
Such that it's a very popular destination for locals. As we record this, we're a little ahead of the game. It's Mun?
Peggy
It's Monday. No. It's Sunday. It's Sunday afternoon.
Tony
We don't know what day I don't know what state it is. I don't know what day of the week it is. Uh, but this place was wall to wall
Peggy
Yes.
Tony
This morning. And it is almost completely empty now here on Sunday night.
Peggy
For every loop of, like, ten ten to 12 sites, there's, like, two to three campers now.
Tony
Yeah.
Peggy
And so it's been kind of quiet and nice. But over the weekend, I just wanna, you know, kind of give a little it was it is a park where there's a lot to do. A lot very, very family friendly, and that is good. It's not necessarily our style because we don't have kids. And, you know, I'm gonna I'm gonna be the get off my lawn guy and say, there were a lot of kids here.
Tony
A lot.
Peggy
I mean, but they were having such a good time, and they were playing and laughing and riding their bicycles and playing yard games and splashing around in the pool and just having a ball. And some of them even went on the I don't remember what it's called, but it's like a
Tony
I think it's called roam above. Above. Yeah. Like a zipline y, uh, thing where you can you attach to, uh, like, a cable, and you have a harness, and you can go on this, like, uh, not it's not an obstacle course. It's I don't know.
Tony
A zipline course.
Peggy
So there's ziplines. There's, like, some of those rope ladders and sort of obstacle like rope ladders. We did not try it.
Tony
Because they told us we couldn't because
Peggy
Well I I don't exceed the weight limit, but I'm very close to it. But what the the reason that I didn't even really wanna do it was that once you go up, you don't come down till you finish the whole thing. And if it got too hard for me or I got too scared or my knee gave out, I'd be just stuck finishing this course.
Tony
Gosh. I we are turning into the get off our lawn. Hey. Get off our lawn. But it is it's pretty doggone cool.
Peggy
I wish there had just been, like, one single zip line. I might have tried that.
Tony
I would have tried it. Yeah. But it it's pretty neat. I mean, I've never been to an RV park where there's that, and you are actually, like, I'm gonna say ziplining because I don't know better. Yeah.
Tony
Uh, ziplining over
Peggy
Right over top of campus.
Tony
RVs, and there's, like, this huge lawn area in the middle that is really good. We noticed a lot of the people here seem to be here in groups.
Peggy
Right.
Tony
So, like, the people next door went down the way to other people's campsites and and that sort of thing. There were a lot of boats because there's a big lake nearby.
Peggy
There's a couple of big lakes nearby.
Tony
Yeah. That's true. Uh, and you're near Park City, so just about anything you can imagine to do Sure. Is nearby, or eat or drink. Mhmm.
Tony
There's in winter, of course, there's skiing, uh, which is popular here. And it's the people were really, really, really nice.
Peggy
Very, very nice people here.
Tony
Today, after everybody left, they were walking around, you know, with a golf cart and cleaning all the power pedestals and picnic tables and chairs and just doing a lot of maintenance and upkeep on the park.
Peggy
You had actually remarked that it didn't seem as, you know, kind of manicured and well kept as we expected it to be, but I kinda feel good about that. It's not like it's not concreted over, you know? It's it's kind of natural, and the grass is, you know, kind of brown because we're sort of in a dry area. And
Tony
Not in winter.
Peggy
Well, not in winter. But then there's also a couple creeks running through here and a little fishing pond.
Tony
And there are a lot of kids with fishing poles, I noticed. And I noticed some kids had caught fish. Yeah. There's a lot to do. It's really nice people.
Tony
And the place was just jam packed on the weekend. But the tip is if if you'd like it to be a little less crowded and maybe record a podcast, come during the week. Yeah. It's it's a lot less crowded and Yeah.
Peggy
It's totally as we said, it's Sunday night and there's, I don't know, it's like 10% full or something.
Tony
Yeah.
Peggy
So it's very nice. It's a beautiful park. It is not what we expected, but it is I I would come back, but I probably wouldn't come back on a weekend in the summer.
Tony
Right. But there's probably people who absolutely love coming
Peggy
on the weekend.
Tony
Yeah. Since we were near Park City, we went to Park City Brewing Company.
Peggy
Yes. We did.
Tony
And, oh, gosh. The the food we got chicken and waffles.
Peggy
Yeah. Chicken and waffles. It was fried piece of fried chicken and a waffle and some bacon slices and, uh, Traeger smoked syrup.
Tony
Oh, it was very, very good.
Peggy
It was really good.
Tony
And I'm usually an IPA guy. That's typically my kind of beer. But I tried I saw coconut stout
Peggy
Yep.
Tony
On their menu, and I thought, oh, gosh. And the server we had, who was really nice, said, yeah, that's my absolute favorite. Now, of course, we all have our own favorite kinds of beer.
Peggy
And just to say, Michael, it's not that we didn't try to try the coconut no. I mean, sorry, the coffee stout. They don't have it anymore.
Tony
And the
Peggy
girl was really new, so she didn't know. But I suspect when their stout runs out of one flavor, they just try a different flavor. Maybe. So but the coconut stout was
Tony
really tasty. And it really worked well with the chicken and waffles. It was such a good combination. So, uh, the server told us that, you know, I wanted to buy some because it was so good. I was gonna bring you some, Michael, but, uh, they didn't have it.
Peggy
So So the grocery store where she said they would they were they sold it, they did not sell that flavor of beer.
Tony
Yeah. They didn't have that one. But I did get a coconut porter, uh, coconut stout. I keep saying porter.
Peggy
Porters. We ran into a couple
Tony
Quito's Brewery.
Peggy
A local couple who said that this one was even better. And I don't know. Do you think it's even better?
Tony
Well, let's try.
Peggy
Try it and see. Uh, and then they also recommended another brewery in town, which we did go to, and it was, uh, very crowded. We obviously didn't need to eat. We had just eaten. It was too crowded for me.
Peggy
I couldn't even find a place to sit, and I was done drinking. So I went shopping at this little HomeGoods store nearby, and Tony tried some beer.
Tony
Yeah. It was it was good. Uh, I liked the well, I had a coconut stout and a, uh, IPA at Park City. The IPA was was, you know, decent. Nothing.
Tony
But the coconut stout was so good, it was like, oh, gosh, I want more of that. Uh, this is a coconut stout from Kito's Brewery.
Peggy
It looks Australian to me.
Tony
Right.
Peggy
It's k I I t o s. Yeah. We'll put some pictures and a link.
Tony
But it's good. You wanna try it? Sure. It is good. I like it very coconutty, but also chocolatey as a stout would be.
Peggy
Very much so. Yeah. Delicious.
Tony
So, anyway, there you go. Go to Park City and get coconut stout or
Peggy
I go to Park City and buy Australian canned beer. Here. I don't know that it's Australian.
Tony
We'll get this from The US. So anyway, Peggy and I made lists of our favorite campgrounds. And as you know, we are kind of boondocky people Right. Because we like kind of not being around too many others, except if it's a yeah. And stay off my lawn.
Tony
And it's also fun when we have our own group. Oh, yeah. I mean, that is the epitome. But so I'm gonna pull up my list here.
Peggy
Me too. Got mine right here.
Tony
We have we didn't share this.
Peggy
We did not. We didn't even make it in the same program, so I
Tony
don't know. No. So, uh, I'm gonna Peggy, go first with your first one.
Peggy
My first good or my first not good?
Tony
Good.
Peggy
Let's My first let's
Tony
start positive.
Peggy
Alright. So the first thing that always comes to mind when people say, what's one of your favorite campgrounds, is the Joshua Tree, Palm Springs, KOA.
Tony
Oh, god damn it.
Peggy
I knew that would be on your list too.
Tony
Got it.
Peggy
We always talk about it. We try to go there every every year when we go to Quartzsite. It's just a one day drive from Quartzsite to this KOA. Uh, it's close to Joshua Tree. It's close to Palm Springs, as you might have guessed by the name.
Peggy
And it has natural springs, hot springs. The pool is heated, so I can go in the pool in January and February and take their water aerobics class because it's nice and warm, but there's three heats of hot tubs. Uh, you know, hot, medium, and not as hot. Yeah. And we just really like the water there.
Peggy
We like the people there. We like that it's close to the things that we like to do. We can go to Shields Date Farm
Tony
Oh, yeah.
Peggy
Watch a movie about the sex life of the date.
Tony
And get dates.
Peggy
And get dates and date shakes. And it's just really one of our favorite places to go. They do have a pretty decent laundry two laundry rooms, and they have a miniature golf course. They also have a a few other things for kids. Like, they have those, like, low bicycle things that
Tony
you can ride around the car. Rock wall, I think.
Peggy
Wall and some other activities that we don't really pay attention to. Right? Because they're kids' stuff. But it is a good place, I think, for families to go, and we like it a lot. And so that is one of my on my good list.
Tony
Well, so since we have well, I made a list of favorites and runners up. That one is actually in my runners up, and here's why.
Peggy
Oh.
Tony
The I love the hot springs. We love the people. But two things, the sites are just kinda it's just like a big, long gravel driveway. Right? I mean, the you know, you're, like, right next to one another, which is okay.
Tony
I also got my credit card hacked there. So a lesson to you, don't use park WiFi.
Peggy
Don't use park WiFi.
Tony
That is not their fault. That's just generally. Sure. Yeah. Get your own doggone WiFi.
Tony
And stay out by lawn.
Peggy
And things that we tried I I hope that you tried to avoid in determining the bad, you know, the not favorite parks was things like noisy crowds because honestly, it's not the campground's fault if there was a noisy crowd. It might be the campground's fault if that crowd stays noisy three nights in a row and you've re asked for them to talk to the crowd. But, anyway, I do not base my criteria on things that are beyond the campground's control.
Tony
Well, then I am going to stay in the same neighborhood
Peggy
Okay.
Tony
And I'm gonna say the Coachella Lakes RV Resort. Uh, yes.
Peggy
That was a lovely place.
Tony
It was a it was new. It was immaculate. Everything was just, like, top notch at that place. But what I liked about it well, again, it's near all the same stuff as the Palm Springs Right. BOA.
Tony
What I really liked about it was they have, like, a amphitheatery thing there, and they can have music and all of that. And Coachella, of course, is known for that big music festival. Mhmm. Uh, but they really embrace local music too. So and I'm a huge fan of of any place that has music, I'm in.
Peggy
So that campground, uh, is part of a
Tony
Chain?
Peggy
Chain, I guess. Small chain. I think it's called C and R Campgrounds. And, uh, Verde Ranch, which may be on one of our lists, is also a member of that chain.
Tony
By the way, Verde Ranch, uh, won an award, and it I'm gonna say Verde Ranch is not on my list.
Peggy
It's on my list.
Tony
Okay. Well, it won an award for the best campground in The United States. It it's it it gets high marks. You know what? It should have been, doggone it.
Tony
But anyway
Peggy
I lost my place talking about that. So Coachella Lakes was actually, uh, offered to us at a discount. We did stay there for three nights. We stayed at another of their parks for three nights, and we have stayed at Verde Ranch a couple of different times. Coachella Lakes used to be a golf course.
Tony
Yeah. And they just basically
Peggy
And so you can still kind of see the sort of rolling hills, and there's a bunch of little ponds. And some of them, they stock with fish for
Tony
Oh, and
Peggy
they have a
Tony
nine hole,
Peggy
like, a potting green.
Tony
They do have
Peggy
a little they do have, like, a little miniature golf putting green thing. Uh, so it it but and again, really nice laundry rooms.
Tony
That's kind of
Peggy
a criteria for me. And
Tony
Yes. At spatlesscamping.com. We'll put links to all of these in the show notes if you want, like, a full story about these places. Well, I guess I gave away one of mine. Alright.
Tony
How about what's next?
Peggy
A bad one?
Tony
No. No. Let's stay good.
Peggy
Oh, just
Tony
stay good. Yeah. And then
Peggy
we're gonna end with all bad? Yeah. Oh, great. Okay. Well, another one of my favorites, and I'm looking forward to going back here when we do our Route 66 trip next year, is the Grand Canyon Caverns Campground in Peach Springs.
Peggy
That campground was delightful. It was very quiet when we were there, which I think was in, like, June or something.
Tony
That's where I did the review of the Rad Electric bike.
Peggy
Yeah.
Tony
I rode all over that place.
Peggy
So we I really like the campground. The sites are, you know, kind of separated by trees and bushes and stuff, so you don't feel like you're stacked on your neighbor's doorstep. And it also it's also home to, or whatever, uh, Grand Canyon Caverns, which is a cavern that you can take a tour of. And that, I love doing that. Like, those are some of my favorite things to do is go on these cave cave tours, uh, cavern tours.
Tony
So It's an underground operation. They actually have an underground. You can go I think they have a little restaurant in the cave.
Peggy
They do.
Tony
And you can spend the night in the cave.
Peggy
That's right. That's right. They have a restaurant there. We didn't see it in operation. We were, like I said, it was pretty quiet there, so we were, like Yeah.
Peggy
Among the only people on the tour. But they did also have a little upstairs like, in the lobby, you know, in the ups in the ground level, they had a little dinette dinette dinette dinette dinette.
Tony
We had, I think, burgers or something there. Again, we have a full review. Okay. So my next one is where we just came from well, sort of before here. Clearlight Campground.
Tony
Yay. Uh, it's a place that it was the first place we went with our new 2016 Rockwood Mini Light 19 o five. Um, we've, I think, of all the campgrounds we've camped at, we've camped there the most. Absolutely. It's right on Cache Creek.
Tony
They call it a vintage campground. And it is small and sort of an older style, but Lisa, who runs the place, is fantastic. They keep everything clean and nice. Uh, it's right on Cache Creek. I think I already said that.
Tony
There's a lot of people who go there for kayaking and, uh, catfish Yes.
Peggy
Catching. Yes.
Tony
Um, and boating and that sort of stuff. They have a gathering, like a
Peggy
Covered patio.
Tony
Yeah. Covered patio. They have a pool, which I've never been in. Isn't that weird? Yeah.
Peggy
That is weird.
Tony
It's just I just like it. It's because it's such a relaxed feel. Uh, just now when we went well, not just now, but, you know, last week when we were there, the trees, I am as you may know, I'm not a big fan of trees in campgrounds, but these trees were just the right trimmed. So they did do shade, but I wasn't worried that stuff was gonna fall on my head.
Peggy
Lisa's really fabulous about hosting groups also. Like Yeah. I've been we've been to vintage rallies galore, and I've been to a lot of women's campouts there, group you know, groups of women. And Lisa just makes it so friendly and so fun, and she's so accommodating. And I just love her.
Tony
Yeah. Yeah. Just a good situation. Alright. What's your next one?
Peggy
I guess my next one would be the one I've mentioned, Verde Ranch. And like I said, we're not really resort y type of people. But for a resort, it is really nice. It there's tons of spaces. There are, you know, like, segments, sections, or whatever of spaces.
Peggy
And they have a nice pool and hot tub and recreation center.
Tony
I think they bring food trucks.
Peggy
They bring food trucks in sometimes.
Tony
On certain times.
Peggy
They have, uh, let's see. What else did I say? They have good laundry, um, and they are really convenient to Sedona and Jerome, Arizona and Prescott. So, you know, if you could stay there for weeks, you know, like Scott and Alicia did, and go to Jerome every week and go to Sedona
Tony
if you don't want to. That we went to that was outdoorsy, I think I'm gonna base mine on breweries, but no. In Jerome? Yeah. Not in Jerome.
Peggy
Oh, no. Right in Oh, but Right in Kent Verde. Yeah. There is a there is a brewery that is pretty fun. There's a there's a small indoor area, but then there's kind of a big patio area to sit.
Tony
And then, uh, that hamburger place that we went to, uh, was called Hamburgers.
Peggy
That was in Jerome. Yeah. Haunted Hamburgers.
Tony
Haunted Hamburgers. Oh, my gosh. It was good.
Peggy
That was really good.
Tony
And we had the best time with Scott and Alicia. Yes. Yeah. Okay. I can't or I can't fault you for that.
Peggy
So I would go there any time that we were in the area.
Tony
Yep. Well, I'm gonna add my next one is Jemez. And Jemez is a very small campground in the kind of in the forest in the mountains above Albuquerque. And something that surprised me, when we moved to Albuquerque, you're like, oh, you're in the desert. Right?
Tony
Like, an hour away is pine forests. And Jemez is in the pine forest. I believe it's on native land, if I'm not mistaken.
Peggy
Perhaps. Or very near to
Tony
Or very close to it's small. It's real easy to miss. There are no hookups.
Peggy
Now there are several campgrounds in the Jemez area.
Tony
Oh, you're right.
Peggy
In the Jemez Forest or whatever. Uh, I off the top of my head, I can't think, uh, but I'll put it'll be scrolling across the screen right now, the name of the campground that we stayed that
Tony
did not have a house. There'll be a link to it in the show notes.
Peggy
And we actually because we also stayed at another campground there, it was not a good experience for us.
Tony
No. That was the same place.
Peggy
No. It wasn't.
Tony
Really?
Peggy
Guaranteed.
Tony
Well, that was because we were ill prepared. You were
Peggy
ill prepared.
Tony
And we did not have our trailer. We we were tent camping.
Peggy
And maybe I'll I'll get Michael or Mickey to tell me the name of that campground and I'll also scroll that. And this is we can't really talk about it because we only spent one night, but that was completely on us. That does not make it a good or a bad campground.
Tony
No. I
Peggy
think it was probably a good campground. We just we just didn't prepare properly.
Tony
But it's very, you know, it's kinda like pine forest y, remote, and I don't know. I just I
Peggy
just like Famous. Nearby to the town of Jemez Springs Yeah. And they have a couple places where you can, you know, take the spring the spring water baths
Tony
and stuff. Oh, I forgot that we did that. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.
Tony
That's right. Okay.
Peggy
Ready for another Next. My other and I only have one more good one just because I ran out of time to think, not because I ran out of good campgrounds. I'm trying to think, but nothing happens. You know, when when someone says list your favorites, then all of a sudden your mind goes blank.
Tony
No. We'll think of a ton after we stop recording.
Peggy
Stop recording for the next four days, I'm gonna come up with, like, 40 more that should have been on my list. I know that, but these are the ones that popped in my brain. So we also were given an opportunity to stay at the Two Creeks Crossing Resort in Livingston, Texas. The pool was like a walk in pool. We didn't use it, but it was just kinda cool.
Peggy
There was hot tub. There were things for kids to do. There was an ice house, which I didn't I think I think anyone from Texas knows what an ice house is. It was like a little bar.
Tony
Oh, this oh my gosh.
Peggy
All called. They I after that, I noticed more and more of them that they said they had an ice house. And it's just a little, you know, a little bar, little bar and grill they had there. They had music and, you know, all kinds of yard games and stuff. Oh, that was
Tony
a great place.
Peggy
The park was gorgeous, and it was it had a lot of campsites. It had a bunch of cabins. It had a few yurts up in the buried up in the trees where they were nice and private. And, uh, then there was a long term area with covers that was kind of separated. And so they all looked nice.
Peggy
And I'm gonna say I'm gonna say something curmudgeonly again. A lot of times when there's someone who's there long, long, long term, they kinda let their sight go. And this place not only didn't let that happen, but also separated those long term stays, you know, like in their own kind of neighborhood, which is good for both sides because the long term people maybe don't wanna be quote unquote in a neighborhood with children. Right? Maybe they're there because they're working, and the weekenders don't necessarily wanna tippy toe around the long term people.
Peggy
So I love the way they had it laid out.
Tony
They also had a boat launch. I had forgotten about that place, and it was it was fantastic. You're absolutely right. It didn't make my list because I just forgot. Forgot.
Peggy
See? That's the kind of thing. How about another good one from you?
Tony
Okay. Rome and Page. Yeah. And this is another brand new campground. They were still building it when we were there.
Tony
The campground was clean and nice, and they had a gathering area. And since they were still building it, not everything was finished when we went, but what I liked about it was Paige.
Peggy
Yeah.
Tony
It was it really fit in with the surroundings well, was immaculate, well done, you know, it was brand new, uh, but I I was I did not know much about Paige, and, uh, I would go back any time. There were we went on those Shen Doon, uh, cavern or canyon tours with, uh, The
Peggy
Antelope Canyon tour. Yeah.
Tony
The Antelope Canyon tour, and and there were Navajo people whose family owned the land. Oh, it was just everything about it was really terrific. And so, uh, that was good.
Peggy
So they also have a pool, but it was December, and they were barely opening. So I I don't think we were able to get in the water. We probably wouldn't have No. In December. Uh, but they were also, like, putting the final touches on their little grill cafe thing.
Peggy
And so I would love to go back just to see it completed, but they were, again, so
Tony
nice again.
Peggy
And so friendly and so courteous. And they took us on a tour of the campground and showed us the cabins that they have on-site and stuff. So, yeah, that was definitely Yeah. A really nice place.
Tony
Alright. I have two more then.
Peggy
Okay. Go for it.
Tony
Benton Hot Springs. Do you remember that place?
Peggy
Oh, I do. I almost put that on the list.
Tony
So Benton Hot Springs is not close to anything. It is up in the Sierra Sierra Nevada Mountains, but every site has a hot tub that is fed off the hot springs.
Peggy
Like a concrete built tub.
Tony
Yeah. So you can go well, there were slightly different ones, but you can go, and each site is fairly private.
Peggy
And this is also a no hookup Yeah. No hookups. Communities except that hot that flowing hot water that you could refill the tub with.
Tony
Yeah. But, oh, it was it was just a very special place because of the hot tub. And as Peggy said, there was no hookups or anything. It was the last night I think we spent when we borrowed the pickup camper from four wheel pop up campers.
Peggy
Yep. Yep.
Tony
So that place it was really cool, but there's nothing around there. Uh, and you I guess, you're kinda limited what time of year you can go because it's a very high elevation and it snows like crazy. Yeah. Then the last one I have on my super good list, Doran State Park.
Peggy
Oh, yes. Yes. Yes.
Tony
That one so it's organized. It's right on the ocean, uh, in Northern California, and it's organized in these rings. And we had, in the past, taken over an entire ring with friends for Christmas camping, which the ranger drove by and she was like, seriously? That's why
Peggy
you're all together and not with other people. Oh, my gosh.
Tony
Yeah. And again, no hookups. There is a central water spigot. Mhmm. But that's that's what you get.
Tony
There is a dump station too as you leave. Mhmm. But it's right on the ocean. Uh, friends of ours would always catch crabs, and that was something we ate for Christmas. And I just like the right on the like literally right on the ocean, you could walk over to the beach, You could go in the water or catch crabs.
Peggy
On a like a bay. So it was kind of Yeah.
Tony
It was on a bay.
Peggy
On like a, uh, I'm sure there's a real word for this, like a spit between the ocean and this bay. Yeah. And the bay is where they would put the crab, uh, cages, But then there were people surfing on the ocean on the other side.
Tony
Yeah. That's true. Now the one downside to this, you are right at the coast guard. They also have their their coast guard boats there, and they would blow a horn when it gets foggy, I don't know, very frequently. Yeah.
Tony
So you kept hearing.
Peggy
But what the heck? I mean, we like going places where there's train tracks nearby because we aren't bothered by trains I
Tony
dig them. Yeah. But we've stayed at train tracks
Peggy
Right.
Tony
Purposely. So those are our favorite. By the way, we have a whole, as I've said before, a whole campground section on stressescamping.com called where to camp. And I cheated and looked at those as a trigger for my failing memory.
Peggy
So did I.
Tony
Oh, okay. Well, good. So we have a good resource, right? Yeah. Alright.
Tony
So
Peggy
So now let's bring us down to a bummer level. Not really. I'm gonna make a statement right now that anything that's on our not favorite list, it doesn't mean it well, for except with one exception that I can think of.
Tony
Oh, I know.
Peggy
Uh, doesn't mean that it was so bad we, like, demanded our money back and called the Better Business Bureau. We we never did that. But, uh, what I'm saying is these are our least favorites. It doesn't mean they're terrible parks. It just means They don't
Tony
suit our style.
Peggy
Our style. Right. In places that we probably wouldn't go back to. Unless the first one on my list, since I can't remember where it is, we might accidentally end up there again.
Tony
Oh, gosh. I hope not. I know what you're gonna say.
Peggy
It happened to be a KOA. I we cannot, for the lives of us, remember where it was.
Tony
So not helpful.
Peggy
Not helpful at all.
Tony
But neither of us can remember. And we also we did talk about this one in advance because it's like, and we couldn't remember where it was, and we also couldn't agree on which one we thought it was.
Peggy
But what we both remember is the sites were not very large. The sites were They were huge. Very close together. I think it's only possible that we stayed there because we still had the 19 o five. We didn't have a slide.
Peggy
Because otherwise, the people smoking in the campsite next to us would have been sitting under our slide instead of carrying on on our campers.
Tony
Late at night. Like, they were in a group. They were smoking.
Peggy
And so like I said, that's not the campground's fault at all No. That there were smokers right there, but they were just so close.
Tony
And the sites were just
Peggy
close Close, close together.
Tony
And Yeah.
Peggy
As much as I am not a resort person, I have to admit, for the most part, resort spaces tend to be a little bit bigger, a little bit more spread apart, uh, because you're paying a premium and you're not gonna pay that premium if you're stacked on top of each other. Other. You're gonna get very angry. So I guess this is just a a reminder, a warning. If you haven't been to a campground before and you're gonna try it, see if you can figure out on either some kind of Google map, aerial view, or campground views, street views,
Tony
town views. Is such a great resource. Uh, it's a website where you can kinda see where you're going.
Peggy
If you can see those spots or if you like being right on top of each other and don't care, then just ignore my warning. Yeah. Bad one?
Tony
Well, I don't really have any bad ones other than that. Wow. I only had runners up.
Peggy
Okay.
Tony
And one of those was Oakdale Resort in Glen Rose, Texas, which I believe is one of the oldest parks in The United States. And, actually, I didn't think it was it it just didn't make, like, a top list, but I would absolutely go back there anytime. Sure. Yeah. I thought I like that they did hot dogs.
Tony
Yeah. Uh, they're
Peggy
Pancake breakfast.
Tony
Pancake breakfast.
Peggy
Yeah.
Tony
They're super nice. The place was it was very old, but really well maintained. Very well maintained. Uh, we did classes there. They had nice buildings.
Tony
There's nothing not to like about it. I don't know if I would go there just because it's far for us, But if you're near Oakdale Resort, go there. Because it's, uh, the lady who owns it, super, super nice. The people are super, super nice. Uh, it's just a cool old resort and a huge pool.
Peggy
So that is in Glen Rose, Texas, which is just kind of Southwest of the Dallas Fort Worth area. And I can never remember which side Dallas and which side is Fort Worth. Uh, and it's also near Dinosaur State Park. Oh, yeah. Which we did visit while we were there.
Tony
Apparently, there's a lot to do in Glen Rose, and we just didn't have the time to go explore. Right. And I we'll we probably will go back.
Peggy
Alright. I am gonna tell you the one where we did not stay. We got our money back. We called another campground in town
Tony
Oh, ho, ho.
Peggy
And went there
Tony
Oh, ho, ho, ho. Which
Peggy
was very which was a great decision on our part Oh, it was. In the long run.
Tony
Oh.
Peggy
I'm only 97% sure that I have these names right. Uh, I'm pretty sure that was the Fountain Of Youth that we tried first, the Fountain Of Youth RV Park in Thermopolis, Wyoming. It was very, very tight.
Tony
Oh, my gosh.
Peggy
I think this was also with the nineteen o five.
Tony
It was. And I remember we we so our practice, I think we've said a million times, the first thing we do is take the Hughes Power Watchdog, plug it in, and turn it on to see if the power is good before we even back in.
Peggy
And this park is the reason why.
Tony
Yeah. It was red. We got a red dog.
Peggy
I know. But we had already backed in. We are trying to set up. We realized that the power was not good. And, honestly, we had to, like, duck under the fifth wheel next to a slide in order to even get to our door.
Peggy
Yeah. It was really tight. And we just weren't we didn't have the lithium and the solar that we have now. We didn't have that, you know, comfort level of staying without power. And, uh, you know, it was like one of the first times Well, we
Tony
paid for power.
Peggy
So Why
Tony
not be able to use it?
Peggy
And it was one of the first times that we heard that, like, why is it always you people with the surge protectors that find problems? Uh, because we have a surge protector. Yeah. Not because we caused the problem, lady.
Tony
Right. It was and it's a good reason to have a good EMS electrical management system, uh, surge suppressor. It's not surges are not that common, but low voltage and voltage issues are more common, and this is a reason to have one so you don't fry your camper. Uh, but, uh, forgot about that place. Yeah.
Tony
We left. We got our money back and went up the street.
Peggy
Up the street and what I where I think we wound up Oh,
Tony
I know where it is. Eagle.
Peggy
Yeah. The Eagle Campground.
Tony
Yeah. And
Peggy
then in Thermopolis also.
Tony
And that was great. And they were super nice. My last campground, and this is a runner-up. It's not a
Peggy
Not a bad
Tony
guy. Bad at all. It's the Coronado Campground where it was our
Peggy
Our first home in in in Mexico,
Tony
in Bernalillo. What I liked, it doesn't have hookups, but again, there's central water, or maybe there's water at each site.
Peggy
I think there's
Tony
I think there is water at each site.
Peggy
And probably even power because we have the Starlink.
Tony
You're right.
Peggy
So there might have
Tony
been power. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.
Peggy
We just had to go to the dump station because we were there for so long. Yeah. Yeah.
Tony
And that's where we, uh, lived while we were looking for a house in New Mexico. It's also where we, uh, met our friends Brian and Patrick Who stalked us. Stalked us and showed up with beer, and, uh, we're so glad that they did. And it's just I like it because each site has and this is not uncommon in New Mexico, it seems, like a covered picnic area. And they're it's very New Mexico style Yeah.
Tony
Like concrete. Architecture. Yeah. It's a concrete building, like, Mexico style
Peggy
Yeah. Like concrete.
Tony
Architecture. Yeah. It's a concrete building or adobe.
Peggy
With a picnic table inside.
Tony
Yeah. So it was I like that place.
Peggy
Yeah. It's a really nice house.
Tony
You can literally walk to Bosque Brewing Company.
Peggy
That's right.
Tony
Again, notice a theme.
Peggy
They do have, uh, a whole separate, like, tent area.
Tony
Yeah.
Peggy
And I think the sites right on the water have different amenities. Like, they don't have water. I can't remember exactly, but they they do overlook the Rio Grande, so that was kind of nice.
Tony
Yeah. It's it's a neat place.
Peggy
It is a great park.
Tony
And it's right near Albuquerque, so it's near a lot of stuff.
Peggy
Okay.
Tony
Well, there's our list. I have one more. Oh, you have one more. Oh, Blonde. Okay.
Peggy
Oh. It's kind of on my favorite list, and it kind of ended up on my bad list because of something that they used to do that they don't do anymore. Does that help?
Tony
I guess. No. I I don't know.
Peggy
Okay. So Pomo Campground
Tony
Oh. Oh. Oh. Oh. Oh.
Peggy
In Fort Brad, California
Tony
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.
Peggy
Is a beautiful park.
Tony
You know what? It was one of my favorite parks.
Peggy
Really love it. There is so much native vegetation left in place that every site is like a little oasis. Like, you can't hardly tell that you have neighbors, which is wonderful. It's also the very first time I successfully backed a trailer into a campsite.
Tony
You nailed it. You did it. And that was the '19 o '5, which was not easy. Damn. Single axle trailer.
Peggy
The the one thing that we used to very much dislike about it is you had to call to make a reservation. They had one phone line. They had one person in the office. So sometimes the phone would ring a million times. Sometimes you'd get an answering machine.
Peggy
Then you'd have to wait for them to call back. When you made your reservation, you had to mail in a check.
Tony
Yeah.
Peggy
If you canceled your reservation, they had to mail you a check back. That made it not so convenient for us, and we didn't love it because of that aspect, but we love the campground. Well, I checked today, and they now do have online reservations. So it automatically gets pushed up to the good list. Yeah.
Peggy
I know. Because it's the one thing that was a real pain point for us is gone now.
Tony
Yeah. And plus, that's right in Fort Bragg, and you can ride the Skunk Train. There is North Coast Brewing Company, and it's oh, that old Rasputin's good stuff. Uh, it's yeah. Right in Fort Bragg there.
Tony
So oh, wow. Yeah. That's, uh, can't believe that didn't make my list because it has always been one of my favorite places.
Peggy
Yeah. Well,
Tony
there you go. So what's your favorite place? Feel free to weigh in at our fun and friendly Stressless Campers Facebook group. That's what it's all about. Like the hokey pokey.
Tony
We love sharing stuff with you there.
Peggy
Well, we've talked for quite some time now, and we just want to get you out of, you know, having to listen to us anymore.
Tony
But we appreciate that you do. We do.
Peggy
A maintenance tip slash, uh, one of Tony's zippy tips. You'll find this as a video on YouTube, and that is about cleaning the inside vents on your air conditioner. If you don't know how to do that, you can watch Tony's video.
Tony
And this is for the specifically for the Coleman Mach, but common to many. But as, you know, it's getting warm. In fact, there are big heat waves predicted, well, that are here now.
Peggy
Yeah.
Tony
And so part of the way to help your air conditioner run better is to clean those indoor filters. Now, ultimately, your best bet is to also clean the outdoor, you know, the air conditioners outside.
Peggy
They're on
Tony
the roof.
Peggy
And that
Tony
means it's going on the roof. But this is a simple, simple
Peggy
We'll get someone else to do that for us.
Tony
Yeah. And we did. Remember in, uh, Amana, somebody went up
Peggy
and
Tony
and did our air conditioner cleaning.
Peggy
That was a different trailer. Yes, it was. Last week's question of the week, if we remember right, because we forgot to write it down, was we asked you to give us boondocking tips. I'm pretty sure this was it because I just read Brian's today, and it's really long. His main tip was get people who know how to boondock to tell you good places to boondock.
Tony
But there's
Peggy
a lot more. We thank Michael and Mickey for that. But there are great tips on boondocking on our Stressless Campers Facebook group, and so go check out those tips. Uh, as, you know, I I said, I forgot to even write down what the question was, so I don't have answers handy. But they're good to read them.
Peggy
If you're curious about boondocking and you want some tips before you make the plunge, read through those tips and you'll find some great responses.
Tony
Yeah. And, of course, this week's tip goes, uh, right along with our subject at hand. What makes a campground great to you?
Peggy
To you. This is gonna be different, obviously, for everybody. As we said, we're not really resort people, and then we listed all our favorite resorts. So, uh, what is it that you love about a campground?
Tony
Well, and we have a good number of campground owners and managers in our Fun and Friendly Stresses Campers Facebook group, so it's probably helpful to them too to kinda know what we're all hoping for and wishing for and all that stuff. So
Peggy
So you will find that question featured this week on the Facebook group, and you will also find, if you go to our website, uh, place to sign up for our newsletter. I want to thank the people who are just getting a newsletter for the first time this week. I'm so sorry that I didn't get your addresses in before last week. Those are our students from our last two training camps.
Tony
If you would like our weekly newsletter, we only send it once a week, and we try to put links to the stories and videos and information that might help you have a more stressless camping experience. And know that, of course, we would never share your information with anybody. So if you trust us with your email and all of that, uh, we don't share that ever. Never ever not.
Peggy
Never ever never not ever. You can also find on stressescamping.com the show notes for episode well, all the episodes, but True. This week for episode three fourteen.
Tony
At, uh, stressescamping.com, there's podcast tile. We also have our new favorite RV stuff and gadgets and products. Uh, so and some of those, we also have a discount for.
Peggy
Yeah. You wanna check those out.
Tony
Yep. Of course, we're in all the social places, but you can start at stressescamping.com, and we have links to all the places that we all like to gather and waste time.
Peggy
If you're listening to this podcast by audio, that you you know that you can subscribe absolutely free on any podcast catcher, and that we are saving you a seat around our virtual campfire.
Tony
And if you're on YouTube, don't forget to like, comment, and you can subscribe there too, all that YouTube stuff. And also, so you don't miss a future episode of the Stressless Camping podcast.
Peggy
And if you have anything to say, say it there. Or, you know, respond to an email or write it on Facebook. Uh, and also, by the way, if you wanna write things on Facebook and you see something that we have written, said, talked about, whatever, and you wanna share it, it really, really helps us when you share those things. So thank you so much for doing that.
Tony
That's the fact, Jack. That's what we have for you this week. Uh, maybe you've been to some of these places. Maybe you like some of these places or might wanna visit. There's a holistic campgrounds at stresslesscamping.com.
Tony
Once again, we sincerely appreciate your being here with us. Without you, we'd just be a couple of people yapping into a microphone.
Peggy
Which is what we look like right now.
Tony
Yeah. I wonder what our neighbors are thinking.
Peggy
Probably like, what are they doing?
Tony
What in the wide, wide world of sports are they doing? With that, thank you so much. Stay off my lawn. And stressless camping.
Mark Ferrell
We hope you learned a lot and had some fun and got some tips for your next stressless camping adventure. We're honored by your reviews on Apple Podcasts, which helps others find us too. Don't forget to subscribe so you won't miss out on the adventure, and we look forward to your joining us next week. Until then, happy camping.
