RV PARK REVIEW - SLC KOA - McTraveler's eyeballs are popping out from greenery overload - that's a good thing!

MAY 2013

After our adventures throughout southern Utah's red rock/orange sand country (BTW Jim had had enough rocks); McTraveler made it's way north to Salt Lake City.  What a nice change to see green, white, and blue.  Real trees! Lush greenery and flowers everywhere, white snow capped mountains, and beautiful blue sky views of  downtown SLC.

Downtown Salt Lake City

A light rail system is a very short walk
from the campground

The SLC KOA is the closest RV park to downtown and right off North Temple Street where you will find a light rail system for your tourist adventures.  It's also located on the western side of the city; which is where we wanted be to for an overnight. Tomorrow McTraveler will be going westbound on I-80 towards Elko, NV then onto Reno, NV to see friends. Note: To and from the interstate there will be some city street driving.

The location is not your typical campground in the woods (let's go hiking and fishing) but a really beautiful urban campground for taking in the sights of a big city; or an overnight that's convenient to get back on the interstate.  We thought they did a really good job with the grounds to make it a natural setting as possible.  Again, we had been green (forest) deprived the last several weeks.

Views of the campground.
Here we enjoyed the smells of pines and flowers; unlike our last campground's smell of musty mud.

The staff was very courteous, professional, and helpful with giving us tips of things to do while you're here.  It was nice to feel welcomed.  They appreciated our business and wanted us to have a good experience in their campground.  After weeks of spotty phone and internet service and no cable TV, we were all over the electronics here.

CAMPGROUND AMENITIES50

• 50 Max Amp
• 80'Max Length
• Wi-Fi
• Cable TV
• Pool (5/25 - 9/7)
• Hot Tub / Sauna
• Propane ($)
• Kamping Kitchen
• Pavilion
• Tour Shuttle ($)
  

• 5 Buck Pizza
• Tours
• Coin Operated Laundries
• 2 RV/Car Washes
• Media Center
• Barber Shop
• Nico's Mexican American Cafe
• Free Temple Square Shuttle

So nice to have a paved site with grass and trees

We enjoyed our overnight stay and would stay again if in the area.  Our overall rating for the Salt Lake City KOA is a solid B+.  We hope you found our review helpful.  If you've stayed here, we'd love to hear your view.  We welcome all comments.

Now, we thank you for visiting our virtual campsite and hope you liked the s'mores.  We eagerly anticipate that you'll be back soon to read more of McTravelers RV Adventures.

Until then, wishing you safe travels,

Pam, Jim, Maxx and Mollie

DIRECTIONS

I-15 Northbound and Southbound and I-80 westbound -  take Exit 308 (airport), 1.5 miles on I-80 West to Exit 118 (Redwood Rd.), turn right on Redwood, go 1/4 mile, turn right on North Temple Street. Go 1/4 mile. Turn left at the light marked 1460 W. Turn right into the park.

I-80 Eastbound - take Exit 115 (North Temple) stay on North Temple Street 3.5 miles.Turn left at the light marked 1460 West. Turn right into the park.

GPS address:  110 N 1460 W, Salt Lake City, Utah 84116

RV PARK REVIEW: Moab KOA - Yuck the Muck !!! Where's my Rubber Ducky?

MAY 2013

I thought the saying was April showers bring May flowers?

Easy access to the campground from US 191 (the main drag running through Moab) 

The night before leaving the Bryce Canyon area, we made on-line reservations at the Moab KOA. After the great experience we had at the Bryce/Cannonville KOA (A+ rating) we presumed we'd feel pretty much the same about this one. We also chose the Moab KOA for it's convenient location to Arches National Park; which was our number one attraction we planned to visit. We also liked their campground amenities and would fit McTraveler's needs:

• 50 Max Amp
• 65' Max Length
• Wi-Fi
• Cable TV
• Pool
• Propane ($)
• Mini Golf ($)
• Bike Rentals ($)

Campground entrance

Picnic table and a grill are provided

McTraveler was the first coach to park at this new site

Upon entering the campground, we noticed that it was well maintained; and we liked the natural, raw high-desert setting.  

Our greeting at check-in was lack luster ... like we were a bother or even worse, a pimple on their ass. Would a smile really hurt you?  We are your guests; and guests like us keep you in business, or not.  We're not looking to make a BBF but a warm welcome would have been appreciated. You know what they say about first impressions ... you don't get a do-over to redeem yourself.

Our park escort (a fellow workcamper) to our site was friendlier and helpful.  He even stayed to jaw-jack while we were hooking up utilities. We shared with each other our workcamping experiences ... we had been workcampers at a KOA in Arkansas the previous year.

McTraveler was the first coach to park on a brand site designed for big rigs.  WOW, this is pretty neat, or so we thought.  The desert soil is red, gritty sand and the freshly graded site had not packed yet.  The new site had a very light gravel base that was just wide enough to get your tires on.  Stepping out of McTraveler was directly onto the loose dusty desert floor. Well, dusty until the skies opened up so much we were looking to board Noah's Ark.

Pam's first step out after the deluge, into inches of standing water, resulted in her shoe getting sucked off her foot and left in the muck.  Maxx and Mollie didn't like it either when they tried walking to Kamp K-9 for their potty breaks.  Mollie, our blonde and silver Yorkie, was no longer blonde, not even a strawberry blonde, but ORANGE!  Maxx didn't look much better.  With the consecutive days of rain, we got sooo tired of washing eight paws and legs every time the pups went out.

We think it's wonderful that campgrounds expand when the need arises; but in this case they were premature in opening up the site.  The ground was not packed so during the rains, the loose sand washed over what little rock they had in place.  It would have helped to have some type of edging between the sand and the rock to keep our doorstep area from becoming quicksand and muck.

We really didn't spend much time in the campground; we were too busy out exploring the area and enjoying our adventures.  So with mixed thoughts on this campground we say ... stay during dry season but beware during rainy seasons.   This campground gets a C rating.

Campground main entrance road changes
from paved to gravel

So McTraveler Adventures thanks you for stopping by our campsite.  We hope you drop back by real soon; next time we'll have the s'mores ready.

Until then, wishing you safe travels!
Pam, Jim, Maxx and Mollie

Campsite view

Campsite view

Campsite view

The red rock cliffs behind us were beautiful

Campsite view

We couldn't find the ark
 but did find our rainbow at the end of the day;
 and that put a smile on our face.
What a beautiful way to end our stay in Moab.

RV PARK REVIEW: Bryce/Cannonville KOA. Cannonville, Utah

DISCLAIMER: We are not paid to endorse or slam any RV park we review, the owners/operators are unaware of any position or personal opinion we make and/or post until after the fact. 


MAY 2013

Bryce Valley / Cannonville KOA is centrally located in a beautiful valley with Bryce Canyon National Park to the north (12 miles/15 minute drive), Kodachrome Basin State Park to the south (10 miles away), and the Grande Staircase-Escalante National Monument (1.9 million acres of BLM public land to explore) to the east but the Escalante Visitor Center is just a few miles south in Cannonville, Utah.  There are so many things to do in the area.  This park gets an A+ for convenience of location.

From Bryce Canyon National Park drive south on
Utah Scenic Byway 12 to the KOA and in route you pass by
the Grande Staircase-Escalante National Monument

The KOA is situated in the Bryce Canyon area near 
Cannonville which is also so close to 
Kodachrome Basin State Park

In 1999, John and Marsha Holland purchased the raw land and proceeded to build their dream campground with emphasis on enhancing their guests' camping experience. Today as family owners and operators, they still have the same passion and continue to update and improve the campground.


The 50amp full hook-up sites will accommodate rigs up to 85' and include WiFi (my Verizon Jet Pack and phone did not have reception through out this whole canyon land area), picnic table and fire ring (firewood is available for purchase - do not bring your own).  The park's amenities includes a propane station (we needed to heat McTraveler), a very large kitchen pavillon for groups, a family pool, and a snack bar and a stocked kampstore which we found helpful.  Note: fullly stock up on provisions prior to coming into the national park and monument area; you're in the middle of no-where.

This park has a wonderful rustic western ambiance

The staff made us feel very welcomed and 
they genuinely wanted us to have 
the best possible experience

The family staff is very friendly and concerned about your experience in their campground; but doing so without being overly obtrusive. Marsha is a great source for local things to do and will help you plan your day trip excursions to ensure you don't miss out on the 'best stuff'.  She also gave me her personal favorite hiking tails and advised what time of day is best to tour various attractions.

We used the laundry facility and found it very clean and the lowest priced wash/dry load to date.

Overall, we immensely enjoyed the relaxed, friendly atmosphere, the beautiful setting and the welcome we received that made us feel like family - that's an A+ all around.

Hope you found this helpful and that you'll be back soon.

Wishing you safe travels,
Pam, Jim, Maxx and Mollie


PS - Yes, we recommend this park and will definitely go back!

View from our dining room

WE BELONG . . . RV Affiliations and Discount Memberships

A sampling of our memberships

Early on we learned to take advantage of discount clubs. During our multiple cross country travels, we found that one particular organization may have a stronger regional presence than others. For example, as members we stay for free at Thousand Trails campgrounds which are found throughout the US; except they are totally absent in the north central states. So that's one reason we chose to join multiple clubs to ensure we can get discount site rates at every stop.  Just in our  2013 Spring Trip (8 weeks May-June), we saved $714.21 off campsite rates. The savings on a one to two night stay typically covers the minimal cost of the annual membership fees. Who doesn't like to save money?

Speaking of saving money, we also do occasional overnight boon docking or dry camping (depending on whom you're speaking with) ... and BLM land or Walmart's are wonderful for that.

As a courtesy, we introduce ourselves to the Walmart store manager with a smile and a basket of provisions, then ask permission to park overnight.  We've never been turned down; but there are some towns with municipal codes that prohibit overnight parking. It's best to ask in lieu of taking the risk of being fined or towed.  The manager always thanks us for being a loyal customer and says "I'll let security know so they will patrol your motor home during their rounds".  We appreciate that and we try to park under a security camera.  Also, we don't put our jacks down or set up an outside camp site; but slides out are okay.

Besides the discounts on campsites, most of these organizations offer product and services discounts.  Many also offer educational seminars, rallies, mail forward service, and regional chapters for traveling with groups.


PROUD MEMBERS OF ...
FMCA - Family Motor Coach Association
Escapees RV Club
Good Sam Club
KOA - Kampgrounds of America
National Parks and Federal Recreational Lands Pass Series (Senior Pass)
Passport America
Thousand Trails / Encore
RPI Plus - Resort Parks International
RVGC - RV Golf Club 


Thanks again for riding along with us on our journey.
Hope to see you back soon!

Pam, Jim, Maxx and Mollie