Tucson, AZ

In the years we traveled west for the winter we almost always started back east on I-10. Even when deciding to go up and use I-20 or I-40 we would start out on I-8 or I-10. So we almost always wound-up going through Tucson, AZ.

There is a large military campground on the Davis-Monthan AFB at Tucson but we have never used it. It has a first come first serve policy and we pass through there before most seasonal travelers have left. We always visit the base to play golf and do some shopping at the commissary and military exchange outlets on base. The largest military aircraft graveyard in the country is located there and worth the time for a tour of its facilities.

We always like to spend a week in Tucson. There is so much to do and visit in the area. It just cant be done in a week long stop.

We have found the Prince of Tucson RV Park to be very conveniently located with easy exit and entry to all major highways. The park itself is well established with excellent amenities and nicely paved parking sites for all, with paved personal parking right on your site.

Browse the web site below for details. They have a nice mail service area. When we call ahead to make our reservations we ask that they accept our mail before we get there. It has been very convent.
http://www.princeoftucsonrvpark.com/

Here are some pictures of a typical parking site. I’m also going to add some pictures of places we have visited to color up the posting a bit.

Clicking on any of the pictures will enlarge them and start the slide show. The link to the park is active so just click on it to brows around.

The FastEagles
  Cal & Linda

KOA Fredericksburg, VA

 

 

In this posting we are heading south from our northern adventure in 2010. We had left I-81 in Winchester, VA to transit down to I-95 via US-17. We were heading to Four Oaks, NC to visit with friends before heading home to SC. We had to make one more stop before getting to Four Oaks.

We have stayed at a lot of KOA campgrounds in our travels. When we were full timing, our KOA card was golden (15% discounts). We have seen all kinds of them and had never been treated badly until we got to this one.

http://www.fredericksburgkoa.com/

First mistake was going that far off the major highways for a KOA. It was more than 12 miles into the CG. Once you go that far off your highway you have too much invested in the fuel  to do any serious bartering.

We knew better than to think all KOA’s have nice managers. Because we no longer had a KOA card the manager refused to give us any sort of discount. I reminded them that - at the time - it was KOAs policy to give military discounts.We were promptly told that we could purchase a KOA card. And, that they only gave discounts to active duty military.

After the check-in hassle they parked us as far away from the CG store/office as possible. I requested something closer and was told they liked to keep open spaces for any caravan outfits that might stop by.

Now to be fair I’ve read the reviews for that place and it seems people in family groups and large numbers of RVs traveling together like the place. So I just have to assume they just don’t like single units that just want to spend the night. So they take advantage of the fact that they are so far off the highway and turning around and leaving is an added expense for the traveler.

After checking-in and getting to our site we discover that it’s much like most KOAs out in the country. The interior park roads were paved but had lots of pot holes to avoid. The sites did not have paved patios. The site we were assigned to was large and level but I’ll bet it would be muddy in the rain. Being on the end it was very close to the wilderness of the surrounding woodlands. There was a smallish pond close to our site and it had an active beaver family building their winter home. We had a 50 amp FHU site so we used the evening to wash cloths and cook a nice supper.

Here are some pictures. I didn’t venture far from the trailer taking them. Like all other posts in this blog you can click on any of the pictures to enlarge the view.

The FastEagles
  Cal & Linda

Fort Stockton, TX

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One time in the spring of 2005 after wintering in Yuma, AZ we were going back east for the summer and were traveling alone. Our friends had gone up to central CA to spend some time with a daughter living in Hanford, CA.

We were headed to Jacksonville, FL to visit with family and off load some stuff into our storage facility before heading north for the summer. We were using I-10 all the way. We had a couple of week long stops scheduled along the way. He had just spent a week at the Military CG at El Paso and were just going to overnight it to MS.

We like to use KOA CGs for overnight stopping whenever they are available because they are easy to get in and out of and are often very close to the highways being used.

So we were very happy with KOA Fort Stockton. It was not very expensive, most of the snow birds had left giving us a choice of nice long pull-thru sites to select from. Our normal travel day is 300 miles. So we normally get into our overnight sites early enough to get set-up and have plenty of daylight time to browse around the CG and visit all of the facilities. At the time of our stay most of the infrastructure was in great condition making our overnight stay just that much more enjoyable.

When I went hunting for the KOA Fort Stockton web site I couldn’t find it. It looks like they have sold it and it’s now called the Fort Stockton RV Park. In the web site below you can see that the trees and shrubs have grown considerably since our 2005 visit. I’m sure the sites are the same size and nice and level.

Since that time we have never again used I-10 to cross TX so it was our only contact with that CG.
  
http://www.ftstocktonrvpark.com/

Here is what the CG looked like on our only stop there. Remember to click on the pictures to enlarge them. The reference is active, just click on it.

The FastEagles
   Cal & Linda

Sam’s Town RV Resort - Tunica

They used to have an active web site but I could not find it. Here are the particulars.

  * Fenced 100-space park with 15 pull-through sites.
  * Full hook-ups for sewer, water, telephone and cable TV.
  * In-Park convenience store with sundries and RV supplies.
  * Two pet runs * Private concrete pads, each with BBQ grill, picnic table and refuse       container.
  * Daily trash pick-up at each site.
  * Paved park roads with security patrols.
  * Free courtesy shuttle from park to casino entrance.
  * Call Sam's Town for more information 1-800-456-0711.
 
http://www.woodalls.com/campground/campgrounddetails.aspx?  campgroundid=40246900&index=1&type=PlacesToCamp&subtype=RVCamping

We stopped in here one time while heading southwest for the winter. We stayed a couple of weeks.

The casinos in this area of Tunica County, MS are physically within the zip code of Robersonville, MS. The closest place for grocery shopping is at the IGA store in downtown Robersonville. Ask someone from the area for directions because there is a short-cut. If you have GPS you can set it - just in case you get lost. It is a little les expensive to stay at Sam’s but the Hollywood RV park just across the street has more amenities and is within walking distance to the golf course. At Sam’s you have to ride the shuttle to the casino. At the Hollywood you can walk to the back entrance. We tend to use the facilities where we are parked and that’s why we were at Sam’s this time because we wanted to use their facilities. In the end we divided our time between the two casinos.

The RV sites at Sam’s are larger and easier to park in. Everything in the Tunica area is level so setting-up the rig is very easy. We seldom use Wi-Fi and didn’t check it out. We were using Verizon MiFi and had top of the line signals for phone and internet.

We do use CATV whenever it’s available and at Sam’s we had more than 65 channels and all were very clear including all the major networks via local channels.

Like the Hollywood, the Sam’s RV Park office provides discount tickets to local area tours with pick-up and return services to the park office. The best golf discounts will be obtained with casino players cards and at the casinos. You can also comp your RV site with your players cards. It’s all part of the games you learn how to play with the system.

Here are some pictures of the RV park.

The FastEagles
  Cal & Linda