The western US in the new rig, fulltime! Just the facts Maam!

[SargeW]

McCall RV Resort
Mc Call, ID​

Sometimes we find really nice parks in unexpected places. We met some friends here that I we have known for 20+ years. They have recently relocated from Ca and are building a house in Eagle Id.  They have been staying in their motor home while the process bumps along.  This park is owned by a company called the ?G7 Group?.  They have done a really great job with this park, and it is one of my favorites.  Mc Call is a resort town, and thus there are all kinds of recreational activities to be had. It is situated on the southern shore of Payette Lake, near the center of the Payette National Forest, and Ponderosa State park is nearby as well.

The sites are spacious, and well laid out. They have large concrete patios, picnic tables, and the utilities are logically placed. The sites are laid out on an angle to the road so getting in and out is easy, but also provide a great view because of the position of your neighbor is 10-15' back from the front of your rig.
One improvement I would have liked is if the sites were paved instead of gravel.  The roads are paved and plenty wide. The part of the park we were in was just recently completed, so when we first got there, some of the construction fencing was still up, but they came and took it down a few days later.

The pool and spa are fabulous, and I spent a few nights soaking in the spa after a day of hiking or kayaking. The pool and spa are indoor, but the front and back walls of the pool area are glass roll up doors. When the weather is nice like when we were there,  the roll up doors are opened and bring the outside in.  The spa is raised above the level of the pool, so it's a good place to soak and still keep an eye on the little ones. The restrooms are also in the building and are beautifully modern and handicapped accessible.  There are also sauna's if you really need to work up a sweat.

We paid about $48 a night for our site, and that was with tax.  A tributary to Payette Lake runs in back of the campground, and a short walk takes  you to the shore. There children and dogs can venture into the cool water. I did need to set up a remote satellite dish here as 2 giant trees next to the site blocked reception from the roof top dish.  Our on board Wifi worked great (T Mobile) but the campground wifi was said to be excellent. And as a little bonus, the office always had hot fresh popcorn for free. Just stop by and grab a bag and fill it up.

The only real ?ding? I can put on the park is the layout of some of the sites. We had a pull in facing the river below, but many of the interior sites are laid out in ?square? configuration. What that did was put 4 RV's around the outside of a good size grass area, but all of the patio sides faced inward towards each other.  That would be OK if you were camping with friends or in a rally group, but just by yourself would be a bit odd.  So sitting out and enjoying the outdoors would be difficult, especially if any of the other campers have some obnoxious kids or dogs. 

One interesting sight was the heard of deer that wandered around the campground. One of the long term residents had put out a feeder of some sort, and the deer and a variety of other critters would show up routinely for the free food. I don't know how good of an idea it would turn out to be, but  they were fun to watch.

This is a great park in a great location, and at a reasonable price. I would come back to this place anytime.

Pic 1) The view from the front of our site looking back towards the road. Lot of space between rigs.
Pic 2) There was even room on the drivers side of the rig.
Pic 3) Looking down the row in front of the RV. Over the edge of the bank about 30' below was the river.
Pic 4) This is one of about a dozen deer that fed and wandered through the campground. They were so desensitized that the people with the feeder also had a German Shepard that would lay about 20' away.
Pic 5) One day we took a hike with our friends around the shore of the lake on a mostly paved trail.
Pic 6) Much of it was along the shore of the lake.
Pic 7) And there is even a neat downtown area nearby with shops and restaurants to try.
Pic 8) And every little town needs a weekend Farmers Market/Outdoor Shop area.

 

[Tom and Margi]

I wonder if this is the same G7 group that own/owned Desert Gold RV Park in Brenda, AZ.  Binningers, Ruwards, Dicks, Thomases, Brewers, Kuchs and Fosters spent seasons there back in the day and other RV Forum members would stop from time to time.  It was a family owned corporation and IIRC had some ties to Idaho.  https://www.g7rvresorts.com/rv-park/desert-gold/

 

[Ken & Sheila]

Margi it's the same people that own Desert Gold.

 

[SargeW]

Yep, our next stop was Mountain Home RV Park, in Mountain Home, ID which is also owned by  G7.

 

[SargeW]

Fort Collins KOA Lakeside
Fort Collins, Co.
​

About a week prior we had stayed at a KOA in Garden City, Ut. that had a great sites with private hot tubs.  The sites were really well done, and the park was nice.  We were trying to duplicate that stay at another KOA in Co. The results were not the same.  We wound up spending a week there, six of the nights in another hot tub site.  As good at the last park was, this one skimped big time. Even though we still paid $89 a night for the hot tub site, it had none of the features that the Utah park did.

On the up side I could say that the hot tub did get hot, and there was a patio deck around the spa. Most of the other sites had no patio at all.  Comparing the spa's was night and day. This hot tub was old, and the control panel that had the push buttons to make the spa features work were old and broken. The lights and the jets in the spa didn't work, and the only one that did turned the filter on and off. 

There was a way too big cover for the top that obviously came off of some other spa, and there was no self chlorinating device in the water, so for six days the hot water was just hot water.  The only fence around the spa was a 3' partial white picket fence that provided no privacy from the passing vehicles driving past at night, or even from dog walkers with their flash lights. All of the hot tub sites were on the ends of a row, so cars from  2 different  directions lit you up when passing.  There was also no way to secure the spa top, so any child passing by could have free access to the water. It made me a little nervous leaving the hot tub unattended while we left to go do errands. 

The other major down side was that the RV parking pads were cement, but the roads were dirt/gravel, and mostly dirt.  The whole week was kind of a dust bowl, either from cars or the numerous KOA golf carts zipping by day and night.

Other than that, it did have lots of the usual kids activities, a pool and a small lake. Our on board Wifi worked well, but the park did offer wifi but the neighbors indicated that it didn't work well. The restrooms were acceptable and handicapped accessible. There was a walk/run path around the lake that we used a few times, and was a favorite for dog walkers.  Of course any place there is standing water, there is the possibility of increased insect activity, which turned out to be true. Especially around dusk.

All in all this was not a bad park, just not a great one. And I don't recommend the hot tub sites. They were more like outdoor bathtubs, if you like that sort of thing. As a matter of fact, the one night we didn't have the hot tub site, we were in the site next door. The people in the site were in a small pop up camper. No AC unit, no bathroom facilities, pretty bare bones. And they had 3 small children with them, all under about 7 years old.  All 3 kids were put into the hot tub each day, after play, and before bed.  Now I see why.....  Fortunately they drained and refilled the tub, er, spa before we took the spot over.  Gotta love KOA's.

Pic 1) The hot tub site. No way to secure the hot tub.
Pic 2) The spa controls had seen better days.
Pic 3) Got this just driving to the campsite. Maintenance was not a park strong point.
Pic 4) Not my favorite way to start setting up.
Pic 5) Yep, $90 a night. A lesson learned.

 

[HueyPilotVN]

Marty,

When you come down to check out Lake Havasu RV Resort we have a heated Spa for you.

Steve and Jackie are coming here tomorrow.

 

[SargeW]

Cherry Creek State Park
Aurora, Co
​

This is a great Colorado State Park just outside of Denver. Really wide open spaces, trails to walk or ride a bike, and lots of well maintained grassy areas. We stayed in a cement paved back in site with a gravel patio, picnic table and fire pit. The grass was a bit dry and weedy, but with Colorado rain and snow I am sure that will change quickly.  There was not a lot of trees or shrubs between sites, but the next rig was probably 100' away, so you never felt crowded.  Our T-Mobile air card worked well here, and the space we had was easy to get satellite reception. 

We paid $30 a night for a FHU 50 amp site, but there is also a $9 a day entrance fee.  We had a guest visit that is from Colorado, so we used his car and park pass to avoid any extra fees. We were close to Denver and went out to a family dinner one night at a restaurant named ?Shanahans?. Yep, the place is owned by the previous head coach of the Denver Bronco's.  Didn't see him at the restaurant, but the place had excellent food and service, but is a bit pricey. 

The park restrooms are basic, but clean and in good condition and are handicapped accessible. All in all this was a great location to stay and have easy access to Denver and Bronco stadium or the Colorado Rockies, if that is your desire.

Clear Creek RV Park
Golden,  Co
​

We left the state park and went to a city owned park in Golden, Co.  This is one of the most difficult city parks we have been to.  Difficult because it is tough getting a site here as it is always full. The location  is great, right outside of Old Town Golden, and the Old Town area is fantastic.  Lots of shops and eateries to choose from, and even the Coors Brewery and bottling plant is nearby (Yep, we  did the tour).  The RV park has a variety of sites sizes, but not a lot of larger ones. We were in site ?D? which  was just big enough for our 40' Bus.  There is a river that runs right behind the park with a paved exercise path that we used daily. On the other side of the river is the Colorado School of  Mines, and many of the students use the path for exercise or training by the cross country running teams. In spite of all the ped traffic we were never disturbed even though our site backed right up to the path.

We paid $55 a night for a FHU 50 amp site that had a gravel parking pad but a cement patio. Close attention is required when pulling into a site due to the large trees and over hanging branches.  We saw a lot of folks pull into the campground only to pull right out again because they had no reservations. Our T-Mobile air card worked well here, and  we were able to get satellite despite the tall trees.  The restrooms are older but clean, and are handicapped accessible.  One thing being a city park, the full size trash truck comes into the park and empties the dumpster every day. I guess there is no danger of over flow that way.

We also visited the Buffalo Bill museum, and went to  Look Out mountain which the view of Golden and the surrounding area was fabulous. At an elevation of over 5600' Golden gets warm days and cool crisp nights, at least in September.  I think  by December things may be a bit more chilly. 

This is a highly recommended city park, just don?t forget your reservation.
Well, somehow the pics of Cherry Creek disappeared, but we have some good ones of Clear Creek.

Pic 1) There are a lot of mature trees, and some can make it dicey to get a taller rig into the sites.
Pic 2) Not a lot of room on the patio side, but the walking path and river in the back make it worthwhile.
Pic 3) Visiting the Coors home base and original factory, complete with tasting room. All free.
Pic 4) Coors makes over 30 different kinds of beer and cider under the Miller/Coors umbrella.
Pic 5) Visiting the "Buffalo Bill Cody" museum on Lookout Mountain.
Pic 6) Buffalo Bill left quite a legacy during many parts of his life.
Pic 7) Buffalo Bill and his wife's final resting place.
Pic 8) Buffalo Bill loved the view from the top of the mountain. The reason he chose to be interned here.

 

[camperAL]

Hi Marty,

Haven't seen you post for a while and wonder if you are still on the same trip?

I would like to add that if RV'ers are in North Platte, Nebraska, there are museums there along Buffalo Bills Ranch House. One could cover both areas (Golden, CO & North Platte, Neb.) if interested in Buffalo Bill. Best!

 

[SargeW]

Hi Al, yeah, still on the same trip. We suddenly had a rash of family visits so we have been preoccupied for a while. I will be back to the postings as things are settling down.