We rented a car at the Phoenix airport and drove back to Picacho Peak State Park to pick up the RV. Since Pat only slept a few hours on the flight and Tim did not sleep at all (Tim cannot sleep in moving vehicles), we slept for about two hours in the RV while at Picacho Peak before driving on to Yuma. When we arrived at Del Pueblo RV Resort, we quickly began our setup, but had a little mishap when we hooked up the water. We were both distracted outside checking the pressure gauge (rather than the usual one inside and one outside), so unbeknownst to us, the faucet in the bathroom had been left open and the stopper was down in the sink, and by the time we made it indoors the water had been overflowing down the bathroom cabinets, onto the bathroom floor and even into the outdoor storage bin located directly below the bathroom. Needless to say, this was not something we wanted to deal with on the little sleep we had, but we had to dry and clean everything in the bathroom and the outdoor storage bin immediately so it wouldn't rust or mold.
Once we completed that task (the arid climate accelerated the process), we still had the rental car, so we went to Whataburger to eat and then to Walmart to restock food and supplies. Afterward, Tim returned the rental car, and we settled in for the evening.
The next morning, we began our drive to San Diego, stopping to fill up our gas and propane along the way. By mid-afternoon, we arrived at Campland on the Bay, our RV park in San Diego. The RV Park was full (probably for the Easter weekend and spring break) and RVs at Campland are parked close together. The driver's side of our RV was mere feet away from the picnic area of our neighbors, who had set up a tent and doggy cage adjacent to where we connected to electricity, water, and sewer. Luckily, we had chosen a site with a street on the passenger's side of our RV, so we had no neighbors adjacent to us on that side. 
Campland was full of families that weekend. The two RVs across the road from us on the passenger side of our RV seemed to contain about a dozen people including children. They played loud music all day and into the night until quiet hours, which began at 11:00 p.m. We took all of this in stride though; and once the weekend ended, many people (especially those with children) left the campground, including our noisy neighbors, and it was a lot quieter for the rest of the week (we stayed until Friday).
The weather was cool during our stay, so we didn't take advantage of the pool or the beach. We had a lot of laundry to do after our trip to Kauai, so the first day at Campland we did some laundry. On that first night we also took advantage of the café that was at the resort; Tim had teriyaki wings and Pat had a burger. In addition to the food, we had Hurricanes from the bar, and Jello shots that were available only on the weekends. There was a DJ playing music at "Central Park," the campground's large park located adjacent to the café and bar. We tried to get in on the bingo game but were a little late and it had already started. 
The next day was Easter, and we were prepared for our traditional feast! We had purchased a Honey Baked ham to freeze before we left for Hawaii. In Hawaii, we bought a small rum cake (along with a couple of other bottles) at a rum tasting. We cooked our traditional sides of green beans, boiled potatoes, and deviled eggs; we even had some Hawaiian dinner rolls. The meal was just like the big productions we usually put on for holidays…without the crystal and china.
On Monday evening, our good friends, David and Tim M-S came to Campland for a tour of the RV. That same evening, they took us to a place called World Famous Restaurant for dinner. The two of us had prime rib and…fish & chips (Pat always gets fish & ships when it's on the menu). We spent the evening reminiscing about all the events/milestones that we had shared in the last 30 years.
Tim B-M first met Tim M-S at a March on Washington in 1993. The two Tim's struck up a conversation at a bar in D.C. and hit it off immediately. They met up several times that weekend during the March, where Tim B-M met Tim M-S's boyfriend of two weeks, David. David and Tim M-S later moved to Dallas and lived in the same apartment complex as Tim B-M. Tim M-S, David, Tim B-M, and Pat later started the LGBT film festival in Dallas called "Outtakes Dallas." Fast forward 30 years later and we are all still friends, even though David and Tim M-S moved to San Diego, and we moved to New York City (and now fulltime RV traveling).
David and Tim M-S had us over for dinner at their place the next evening, along with another San Diego friend, Greg, who we all knew from Dallas. Tim M-S fixed roasted chicken, potatoes, and green beans; with pecan pie for dessert. We brought a bottle of Pino Grigio from our favorite winery in upstate New York called Billsboro Winery. Two days later, we had David and Tim M-S over for dinner at the RV. We grilled burgers and cooked fries, and Pat made sopapilla cheesecake for dessert. We were lucky to have spent three evenings with David and Tim M-S while in San Diego; it is always so great to spend time with them. No matter how much time goes by, it's like we were never apart.
During our stay at Campland, David and Tim M-S were also kind enough to lend us one of their cars for a few days. Pat had been having an issue with one of his eyes, so he made an appointment with an ophthalmologist, and we used the car for that visit. Turned out that Pat needed to have some laser stitches in his eye because it appeared to be vulnerable to a detached retina. That put Pat out of commission for the remainder of that day, so Tim did some grocery shopping and picked up dinner for the two of us at a place called Roberto's Taco Shop (recommended by David and Tim M-S). Tim had a grilled chicken burrito and Pat had two soft tacos (Carne Asada and grilled chicken), which were delicious. The second day we had their car, we drove to Balboa Park and walked around to see all of the museums and other attractions at the park. 
We took our time disconnecting and leaving Campland on our last day at the resort, as checkout time wasn't until noon and Pat had a follow-up appointment with the ophthalmologist at 1:00. After Pat's appointment, we drove on to our next destination.
Review of Del Pueblo RV Resort
Our RV site was gravel, with a cement area adjacent to the site for setting up lounge chairs, a grill, or other items. The RV site did not have a picnic table, fire pit, or grill. Since there weren't many RVs at the resort, we had no close neighbors.
Amenities at Del Pueblo include a billiards room; bocce ball; tennis, shuffleboard and pickleball courts; café; fitness facility; clubhouse; library; card room; crafts room; woodworking room; hot tub; swimming pool; and laundry room. Uniquely, the resort also has a beauty salon. The resort website states that it has events like movie nights; happy hours; catered dinners; musical guests; and pool parties.
In addition, the website states that attractions nearby include the Colorado River State Historic Park; a museum and ghost town; golfing; river tubing; a wildlife refuge; and Gargoyle Canyon. None of these attractions would be within walking or biking distance (between 10 and 65 miles from the resort). We didn't get to see much while in Yuma, but we would definitely consider returning to Del Pueblo for a longer stay.
Review of Campland on the Bay
Campland on the Bay in San Diego, California, is literally located right on the shores of Mission Bay. It offers beachfront and bay view RV sites, but we were parked just slightly off of the waterfront. Campland is touted as a "family friendly" resort, and it was certainly full of families during the weekend of our first few days staying there. There is also free public access to the beach at Campland during the day.
Our RV site was made of dirt, with a small paved area adjacent to the site for lounge chairs, etc. There was also a picnic table and fire pit located at the site, but no grill. Campland is a huge RV Park, with 562 campsites. Campland offers full hookup and partial hookup RV sites, dry RV sites with no hookups, and tent sites.
Amenities include a large playground for the kids; two large pools; hot tubs; fitness center; sports court for tennis, basketball, or other sports; ping pong tables; skateboard park; horseshoes; arcade; cantina; bar; market; and laundry facility. Campers can also rent bikes, surreys, golf carts, pedal boats, kayaks, pontoon boats, ski boats, and wave runners. There is a walking and biking trail just outside of the campground. Campland also offers planned activities such as bingo, ping pong tournaments, yoga, soccer, capture the flag, bean bag tournaments, and dodgeball tournaments. In addition, there is a large park in the middle of the complex called Central Park, where campers can have picnics or play sports; Campland also has musical guests and other events in Central Park.
Campland is conveniently located close to restaurants and shops that are not quite within walking distance but certainly within biking distance. In addition, Campland is located within driving distance to the most visited sites of San Diego, such as Gaslamp Quarter (9.3 miles); Balboa Park (8.6 miles); Crystal Pier at Pacific Beach (2.5 miles); Sea World (3.2 miles); and the San Diego Zoo (8.6 miles).
We enjoyed all that Campland had to offer; however, we did not enjoy how crowded and noisy it was during the first few days of our stay. We also did not like how close our RV site was to our neighbors. Despite the drawbacks, we would consider staying at Campland again for all that it has to offer, especially the market (that was as large as any convenience store), the pool, the beach, the café, and the bar.
No comments:
Post a Comment