Our Winter Sites in a Nutshell

“Great minds discuss ideas. Average minds discuss events. Small minds discuss people.”

Barstow, CA

We don’t stay in the same park every year like many Snowbirds do.  I guess we just haven’t found the perfect place.  We’re not even sure if there is one.  However, we certainly have discovered  that some places may not seem perfect when we’re there but when we compare them to other places they may be closer than we thought.  We’ve found great parks but not necessarily in perfect locations with perfect weather.  We’re still looking for that place.

Lake Havasu, AZ

Our travels have a few things in common with Snowbirds in that we like to be where the sun is and the snow isn’t  Snowbirds travel from a northern location usually to one or two southern locations and back again.  They have found for the most part what works for them. We’re still not sure what works for us. What we did find out this last winter is that we certainly moved from park to park way too often.  Now that winter is over we’re already thinking what we might do different in the 2012-13 winter season.

BLM close to Quartszite, AZ

In the five month period we were trying to soak up the winter sun, we stayed in a total of 23 different locations!!  Now in my book that is a lot!    Most were great and we were happy but when we weren’t, we really weren’t.  We were sure glad that we had more good ones than bad ones.   Our location in the park and site assigned had a lot to do with whether we liked the park.

We also stayed in a few BLM locations.  We were very happy in those locations because our site was huge.  We never made it to Holtville and the hot springs this year.  We were heading there but found out from Bea and Peter that the road had closed.  We ended up outside of Yuma instead.  Next year?  Well, we may just try that area out again.  Or, we may not.

For this last winter here are our top four picks in order of when we stayed..

Pilot Knob RV Park, Winterhaven, CA

1: The Arizonian – Gold Canyon, Arizona

When we stayed here in November about half the park was empty.  Our site was in a fairly empty section.  If we had been in another section of the park, we may have liked it better.  The park backs state land and has gorgeous scenery and great trails.  The downside was that it was quite a ways out of town and we were always going back and forth to Phoenix.  Looking back though we’re thinking maybe it wasn’t so far after all!

Gold Canyon, AZ

2: Arizona Sun – Quartzsite, Arizona

We booked the Arizona Sun for the month of December.  There was no downside to this park or the people except there was no hot tub and it was in Quartzsite.  We had another huge site with great neighbors.  We would definitely return to this park if we weren’t hanging out in the BLM with friends ~~ maybe.  The people and this park would bring us back.

Arizona Sun, Quartzsite, AZ

3:  Pilot Knob – Yuma, Arizona

We stayed in two different places at Pilot Knob.  One was at the RV park in one of their largest sites and the other was just down the road boondocking on the BLM.  The Pilot Knob RV park has some really nice sites and some really small sites.  In the past we’ve had really small sites but this time it was huge. 

The BLM just down the road from the park is also called Pilot Knob.  We loved the openness of the BLM and we loved being with friends Freddy and Delcie.  This was definitely one of our favorite places.

Yuma BLM

4: Sand Hollow State Park, Hurricane, Utah

This state park definitely came in number one.  We had a huge site and ATV staging areas were located in the park.  Provided with our site was a cabana, barbecue and picnic table.  We loved the site and loved the location.  However, I’m not sure we’ll head back to Hurricane anytime soon.

Hurricane, UT

Along with four great places we stayed, there were two we didn’t particularly care for but it was more our timing, location of our site or the weather.

1. Ridgeview RV Resort – Bullhead City, AZ

The time we were in the Bullhead City / Laughlin area we had winds and more winds.  We were also given a site on a slope.  We had to squeeze our trailer next to us and did not have one day when the winds were calm.  Other than a few short ATV rides next to the park and the lunch we shared with Kellie and George, this was probably our least favorite location during the winter.  Would we return?   No.

Bullhead City, AZ

2. Thousand Trails – Las Vegas, NV

We have been to this park several times and enjoyed the location and the park.  However, this time we left even before our time was up.  Most of it was due to the row we were sandwiched in on.  Tight would be an understatement.  The jury is still out on whether or not we will return to this location.  If we ever do, it certainly will not be during NASCAR time.

Ridgeview RV

That’s it, folks.  Our winter in a nutshell.  There were 17 other places we visited but they are definitely in the middle of the pact without a strong feeling either way.  Some we have no desire to return to and others were okay and the location was good for the time we needed to stay.  Thinking back on our winter destinations helps us to think about where to be next winter …. We may be pulling in right next to you! 

Where are we right now?  We are currently in our most favorite site of all.

Our All-time Favorite RV Site  .... Ever!

‘Tis life on the road.