Now that we've had a few weeks to settle back in, celebrate the holidays, and relax, I thought I'd do a quick rundown of my impressions from our first real cross-country trip. We went from Illinois (20 miles from St, Louis, MO) to San Dimas, CA. On the way to San Dimas we camped at Monkey Island RV Park in Afton, Oklahoma; Elk City/Clinton KOA in Elk City, Oklahoma; Santa Rosa RV Park in Santa Rosa, New Mexico, Lo-Hi RV Ranch in Deming, NM; and Saddle Mountain RV Park in Tonopah, Arizona. While in San Dimas, stayed at East Shore RV Park.
On the way back, we again stayed at Saddle Mountain, then Life Style RV Resort in Willcox, Arizona; Tucumcari KOA in Tucumcari, NM; and Mustang Run RV Park in Oklahoma City.
All were suitable - our favorites were, in order, (1) East Shore in San Dimas, CA (beautiful setting; quiet; peaceful; big parking spots, parked our RV, tow dolly, and three cars on site; great amenities; pricey, but what isn't in CA?); (2) Monkey Island (easy in/out and hookups, level sites, good amenities); (3) Mustang Run (new park, very convenient to all Oklahoma City attractions, well set up, great amenities, good lighting)
(4) Lo-Hi RV Ranch (easy in/out, large parking sites, easy hookups, very quiet)
(5) Saddle Mountain (large park, uncrowded, easy hookups, low water pressure and nothing nearby, so make sure you have food in the RV)
(6) Tucumcari KOA (very basic, easy hookups, very friendly staff, god food available on-site)
(7) Elk City/Clinton KOA (Nice staff, everything very basic, good for overnight, but wouldn't want to stay longer)
(8) Life Style RV Resort (a little tight getting in and out of, very basic, but everything works)
We didn't stop at a single place we wouldn't use again. Did not have any negative experiences at any of the places we stayed.
I did find out for sure that my cable TV does not work. Several parks had cable, it didn't work at any of them. It went to the dealer yesterday to work that issue, I spoke with their cable/satellite specialist at length to describe what I have tried and how everything responds. I also told him to go ahead and hook everything up so I can run the satellite signal through the cable tv port. I figured I have skinned enough knuckles and been through enough frustration trying to make it work, only to find the coax was bad from the external port to the amplifier wall plate inside the coach from the get-go. I quit and am willing to pay them the extra to bucks to make it all work once they repair the faulty coax.
It was a great trip, can't wait for warmer weather to hit the road again. Attending the Indianapolis RV show next week with the wife, brother, and sister-in-law. Who knows, if I see the right deal on an upgrade maybe I won't even want it back.
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