FitzGeralds Arrived at Portal RV Resort in Moab

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ArdraF

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We arrived at Portal RV Resort in Moab yesterday (4-25-09) afternoon.  If anyone is nearby we're in site R-47 (south end, the row nearest the wetlands) and we plan to leave Wednesday morning.

I'm sure you're curious to know about Portal.  First of all, this is the Classic Car weekend so they're full.  Apparently business has been quite good and they're booked pretty much through the end of June.

The "new section" looks nice.  The pool and bathhouse at the south end is all finished with the landscaping added about a week ago.  The koi pond also is finished with a path around it and a fountain in the center.  Both look very nice.  Our site is next to the new fenced and grassy dog park.  I've been watching the four-legged critters run around in there and they love it!  Yes, there's a bench for their two-legged owners to use.  The only thing not finished in this section is the landscaping between the lots and that has been left undone because some owners will want casitas and they don't want to install landscaping and then have to tear it out.  Seems logical to me.  They just started selling lots a month ago because the process with the city took much longer than expected.  When they bought the place, it was in the county but the city annexed this area last year.  The Premium (new) and Full Hook-up (old) sites all have city water, sewer, electric, cable TV (no through-the-air TV in Moab), and wi-fi.  By the way, as with most RV-lot-owner resorts, the sites will continue to be rented out when the owners are not using them.  In other words, it won't be much different than it has always been.  Marty, the blond lady in the office, is still here too.  There is no obvious construction going on now.

The "old section" is just as it was last year.  Once a certain percentage of lots have been sold they will re-do it too.  They're going to eliminate the tent area because it attracts a much younger and noiser crowd.  We learned one interesting thing yesterday.  They have both artesian wells and a stream that feeds into the old fish ponds so all the landscaping is "free" water.  Lucky for them!

We had dinner last night at the Sunset Grill and missed the company of our framily (Steve is still one of the servers - 18 years now).  The high winds were mentioned in another thread and, yes, here in Moab we also were rocking in the wind that had huge gusts.  In fact, we drove down yesterday from Price and encountered several big gusts while driving.  Even the cars slowed down!  There was so much red dirt in the air that when it rained after our arrival in Moab it rained red dirt (I know this because of our nameplate that was put out before the rain and was clean and is now dirty).  That was one huge weather system!  Today is bright and sunny and virutally no breeze.

All in all, I have to say Portal is turning out to look very nice.  There are now 40 premium sites and that number will double once the whole place is finished.

ArdraF
 
Thanks for the report on Portal.  Wish we could be there but we have things to get done at Sam's camp before the kids arrive.  Have fun. 
 
Are you going to hike Negro Bill canyon? Should be nice but watch out for the poison oak !!

Wendy
 
Wendy,

We were talking about doing Negro Bill Canyon tomorrow, but now that you've mentioned poison oak....  Jerry once got it really bad.  Don't know if he now has antibodies against it or not.  That was about 30 years ago.  Do you know if it's all over the place or we'll be okay if we stay on the trail?

Today we went to Arches and hiked up and then down Park Avenue for starters.  Then we did the North, South, and Turret Windows.  Lovely day for hiking.  Partly cloudy and about 70 degrees so not too hot.  Adjusting to higher altitudes and these are the first hikes of the year.  ;D  When we were at Price on Friday we finally got out to the Cleveland-Lloyd Dinosaur Quarry (FINALLY renovated and open again) and had a nice hike there on the Rock Trail.  About a mile loop and just enough elevation gain to break us in.  ;)

ArdraF
 
When we hiked Negro Bill last year, there was a LOT of poison oak. Mostly off the trail, along the stream. But close to Morning Glory Arch there was a lot along both sides of the trail, easy to avoid if you notice it and stay in the middle of the trail.

Wendy
Cortez CO
 
Thanks Wendy, we'll have to think about that.  And it might help if I get out my brochure with a picture so we remember what it looks like!  ;)

Forgot to mention, Portal really cleared out while we were out today.  All the classic car folk left and a lot of four-wheelers and ATVs too.

ArdraF
 
Jerry and Ardra

I am jealous of all the hikes you are doing, wish we were there.
 
Portal is more than half full this evening - Monday night.  The "old" area is almost full, the "new" section less so.  Jerry and I finally had an opportunity to check out the new bathhouse and pool.  Very nice facility with several showers of which one is wheelchair accessible, very nice tile work throughout, colorful Mexican design ceramic sinks, small but nice pool, and the spa which we saw used after our arrival.  I have to say the owners seem to be trying very hard to make it a pleasant and "usable" RV park.  One of them told us the place in Park City has sites that are too small and they tried to correct that here.  There's more than enough room on the new sites for the largest motorhome and a trailer or toad.

Wendy, you'll be happy to know we did Negro Bill Canyon today.  It's a great hike.  We really enjoyed it.  And, yes, the poison ivy was quite evident.  We wore long pants and long-sleeved shirts and were very happy we did because that stuff was really tall.  It the first time we've encountered poison ivy in the western U.S.  The trail is 2 miles one way into a very large overhead arch.  It follows a little stream.  It's moderately strenuous in places with some rock scrambling, lots of sand on the trail, quite wide in some places and narrow in a few others, 330 feet elevation gain with lots of ups and downs, and seven fords of the stream.  We loved the area back by the arch and the sounds of the water seeping out of the rock was lovely.  The seep was just a trickle so the amount of water it puts out is quite amazing.  That seep was surprisingly loud!  Listening to the water gurgle while on the trail is quite pleasant.  The end of the trail is a very peaceful place!  We definitely recommend taking water and a lunch.  It took two hours going in with lots of stops and 1.5 outbound, plus the time spent at the arch.

Lorna, we miss you and our other hiking partners.  Jerry's doing his walk up to the Sunset Grill every morning.  Surprise!

ArdraF
 
Do they still have the boulders at the entrance to the new sites?
 
Do they still have the boulders at the entrance to the new sites?

Russ, no there are no boulders at the new sites.  Each one however has a small light at the corner and one has to be careful not to damage one of them - but they're not as likely to damage our motorhomes!  ;)  Remember the field with the horses?  Well, there weren't any critters this year, but they apparently installed the utility lines between the fence and road.  They've lined it with boulders but they're off on the grass and I don't think they'd be a problem for people in the first row.  By the way, the speed limit is 5mph and now enforced.

The winds yesterday were the worst we've ever had there.  We went out to the end of the road at Arches, thinking we'd walk out to Devil's Garden.  Got about 100 yards and decided it would not be fun so turned around.  Then on the way out stopped at one of the arches thinking we'd eat our lunch out there.  HA!  Way too much wind so ate in the car.  Finally took the Delicate Arch Viewpoint and discovered a 1/2-mile trail UP to view the arch from across the canyon.  As many times as we've gone to Delicate, we never realized there's another great view of it.  Good trail but strenuous uphill.  Also very windy at the top.  Jerry had to balance the camera on the rock to keep it steady.

I forgot to mention previously, there aren't many changes in Moab except for a brand new and nice looking Hampton Inn on the north end of town, east side of the road.  Everyone said business has remained pretty good in Moab which was good to hear.

ArdraF
 
You guys keep talking.  Sam and I wish we could have been there with you guys.  But then we would have missed all this cotton thats been falling.  They are telling us to expect 5 -7 more inches by morning.  I knew we should not have put that blower away when it was in the 70/s here.
 
Yes, Ron, for someone who is allergic to the white stuff, you guys sure waited too long to get outta there!  ;D

ArdraF
 
Have you taken a ride through the Ok campground to see it they made any improvements?

Barb, I'm not sure where the Ok is.  Maybe the one next to the fair/rodeo grounds?  If so we didn't see it.  We did go down to the south end of town.  The Spanish Trail RV park had quite a few RVs.  Even though it's nice, the trees make it impractical for satellite use with the possible exception of the far southern end site of each row.  On the way back into town there's another RV park (can't recall the name) that looked like the pits from the road but we did drive up over the rise and through it and it looked much better than our initial impression from the road.  It's on the same side as Spanish Trail, perhaps a half mile closer to town.  Their trees are much smaller so satellite would be more usable there.  It was neat and tidy.  Also drove through the one in town called Canyonlands.  We stayed there years ago on our first time in Moab - before having a dish.  Very shaded and definitely not satellite friendly.  It's ads say big-rig friendly but I'm not sure it would be all that easy to maneuver some big rigs through there.  There also are the two close to the river.  The one closest to Portal wouldn't be satellite friendly because of their trees.  The one on the other side of the river might be a tad better in that respect but their trees are growing.  I think it's safe to say we still prefer Portal to the others, partly because we like the north end of town better than the south end.  Just personal preference.

Is the water level up in the river?

That's a very good question to which I don't have an answer.  We drove out the river a couple of times and I didn't notice that it was lower than usual or higher than usual.  Guess we were too busy rubbernecking!  Going east on 128 we were pleased to see they've made more improvements to the campgrounds, pullouts, and trail heads.  Just remembered they're doing work on the bridge coming into town.  There were large cranes and they have a smaller and lower temporary bridge that they appear to be using to work from.  We couldn't quite figure out whether they're going to widen the bridge or are making repairs.  That big empy area at the northeast corner of 191 and 128 is full of construction equipment.  Last year they were working on a new pedestrial/biking bridge just east of that lot.  It is now finished and is really nice looking!  Trust me, many of our tax dollars at work!  They've also added a biking trail part way along the river, across it on the new bridge, and it continues north along 191 alongside the entrance road to Arches but outside the fence.  The front area of the Canyonlands by Night is also messed up with the bridge construction.  It almost looked like most of their parking has been taken over by the construction project.  The partially completed tram near 191 and 128 is definitely a dead project from what we were told.  The little cars are still hanging on the cables but it's permanently shut down.

By the way, a few months back you may recall hearing about there being some fires in Moab along the river and near that nature park Wendy and Mike took some of us to.  There's a lot of blackened area there.  Suspect that someone was trying to get rid of that invasive nonnative bush that grows there.  One of the Portal owners said he was at home in Salt Lake City during the fires and based on what he saw on TV he didn't know whether Portal was going to burn or not.  As you can imagine they were pretty tense over it, but later found the fire was about a half-mile away.

Barb, there was only one decent sunset and it wasn't very spectacular so you didn't miss much!

ArdraF

 
I remember hearing about a new bike trail.  And it's good they did some work on the boon dock sites.  Also that the water is not way down.

They must have the classic car show after the Easter 4 x 4 rally.  I'll have to remember that.

Thanks for all the info.  Keep up the reports, it makes missing it easier to take.

Barb
Salisbury, NC
 
They must have the classic car show after the Easter 4 x 4 rally.

Barb, our RV Forum rallies in Moab have always coincided with the classic car show.  They have a lot of fun and have the show part in the park.  Then on Saturday evening, there's a regular parade on 191.  People bring their lawn chairs out to the curb and watch.

ArdraF
 

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