RVingToadless

Home Base: 
Pacific Northwest
Type of RV: 
Forest River Sunseeker 3120
35 Reviews
13 States Visited

Recent Reviews


4

Highline Lake State Park

I got caught by surprise. Didn't realize this was a dry camping park, except almost every site appears to have a water faucet. It's a nice park and was very busy for a Thursday night. I had to hunt through all the reservation cards posted to find one that was open for the one night I stayed there! Whatever you do, don't pay before you find a spot! I do not think big rigs will fit in this park unless they take a back in site. My RV is 32 feet and I barely had enough room. I was in a "pull-through" and I couldn't put my slides out, they would stick out over the roadway through the park or would hit a tree. Not to mention, good thing I wasn't towing a car, I don't know where I would have put it. Most of the sites are pull through but are shaped in a steep arc and very close to the road. There are a few back in sites, perhaps those will fit the big rigs and slideouts. If you arrive after hours, there is a machine to take your fee, cash or credit cards (again, don't pay before you find a spot!). You have to do two transactions if you use the machine. Although I wasn't towing a car, what I understood (confirmed with the camp host) was that you have to buy both a camping permit and a vehicle permit for your motorhome. I am guessing that if you tow a car, you may have to buy another permit, but you might want to clarify this. The rate I am showing is $16 for camping and $7 vehicle fee.

Date of Stay:
 April, 2011
Rate Paid:
 $23.00

3

Lottie-Dell Campground

It's out in the middle of NOWHERE, but it's cheap, it's safe, and basically just a good overnight stop on your way up or down Interstate 84. There is some road noise, but it wasn't bad, I was able to sleep through it. There are some fast food restaurants reasonably close. Park is on a big field, no shade anywhere. Full hookups. Lots of pull through sites, always a good thing. The back in sites are against a fence. On the other hand, the back in sites have more "spacing" between sites than the pull throughs. There is a driving range where you can rent some balls and practice. Check in is "honor system." Cash or checks. I paid full price, but Escapee's members get a discount. Laundry room was a little "smelly" but I used it. Laundry was reasonable, $1.25 to wash, and 25 cents for 10 minutes of drying. No TV at all if you are using antenna. Verizon air card (4G) had trouble getting a signal despite the fact that my Verizon cell phone and Verizon wireless landline worked fine!

Date of Stay:
 April, 2011
Rate Paid:
 $25.00

4

Whispering Pines RV Park & Center

If you need RV Repairs, this park is next door to an RV service & repair place! Can't beat that! However, I didn't use the RV service, so I can't comment on that. This park is in a great woodsy area. The slots are adequately spaced apart, not enough for privacy but enough to be "somewhat spaced apart." You check in at the RV store. The laundry rooms and restrooms have a security code. Laundry and rest rooms were clean, but had a funny smell to them. Showers had a charge, 75 cents, so I didn't use them. Laundry was cheap! $1 to wash, $1 to dry! At those prices, wash anything you can find, even if it's just two pairs of underpants! Washer and dryer were average sized. Cable was decent. If they have Wi-Fi, I didn't use it, so I can't comment. Verizon Air Card kept dropping signal, but this is an issue with 4G versus 3G. Nearby Cle Elum has a few good restaurants, and a good grocery store. If you don't tow a car, you can walk to downtown. And, if you need to "lighten your load," there is a thrift store in Cle Elum where you can donate used goods. The rate I am showing is the Good Sam rate before taxes. Enjoyed a peaceful stay here.

Date of Stay:
 March, 2011
Rate Paid:
 $25.00

3

Fidalgo Bay RV Resort

Stayed here using their "winter" rate of 30% off the daily rate. The catch is that you have to stay at least two nights to get the rate, which is good through April. Once you have met the "two night" criteria, you can extend one night at a time at the 30% off rate. The park has three different rates, depending on the section you take. The 30% off rate only applies to certain sections of the park. I don't think it applies to the front section facing the ocean (which, as of this writing is about $60!). The 30% off rate is cheaper than the weekly rate. I stayed in the back of the park (the "low rent" section). The best part was that I was close to the showers and laundry in this section. Wi-Fi reception was decent. However, in the back of the park, you will get heavy road noise. Restrooms and showers were clean. Great laundry area. The park has a beautiful clubhouse that can be rented for special occasions. Both the clubhouse and the laundry room have "book trades." I wouldn't call this a "destination" park, but it's good for a winter stay. The regular rates to me are way too high!

Date of Stay:
 February, 2011
Rate Paid:
 $25.00

3

Seaquest State Park

In winter, part of the park is closed down. If you are traveling in the winter and want full hookups (w/e/s), then stay in the "T" section at the top of the hill. The water faucets are insulated. The good news is, all the sites in "T" section are pull-through ($28 as of this writing). The bad news is, they are rather close together like a parking lot, but there is some grass for separation. But basically, unless you are at the end, you are in a situation of "your front yard is someone's back yard." Also, in the T loop, there isn't room for a tent with your RV, although tents can use these spots. On the other hand, if you don't need the full hookups, you can stay in the mid loop that is open. (The other two loops that are open in the summer are similar to this one.) The spots here are either back-in or pull through, and have more "separation." Each spot in these loops have room for tents and RV's. You can either dry camp in non-hookup sites, or just have electric (the water in this loop is shut off in the winter). If you have an "electric only" site in winter, it costs $27 as of this writing. Although some of the campsites can accommodate big rigs, need to warn you of this: If you stay in the "loops" (other than the "T" loop) the road is quite narrow! You might need vaseline to make sure you sneak through between the trees on either side of the driving area. The sites in the "T" section are better for big rigs. This park does have some very nice "buddy" sites if you like to camp with a friend. (Or, alternatively, the "oh heck we are stuck next to you because we couldn't get another site," depending on your point of view). This park also has some fabulous Yurts for wintertime camping. The ranger showed me one, they are quite nice, have heaters, and sleep 5. However, they are about $60 or so with sales tax. The one bad thing is you can't park your car at your Yurt. You have to park outside the Yurt village, but not far to walk. Two of the Yurts are ADA compliant with a ramp. Also, pets are allowed in Yurt #2 only, with Ranger discretion, and you pay a pet fee. Pets are not allowed in the other Yurts (but are ok in the Tent/RV sites). The park has a very nice Day Use area with a pavilion and an amphitheater/stage that can be reserved for parties. There is a good sized Group Camp area with a covered shelter with tables and cooking grills. This park also has some nice hiking trails. And the best thing, it's across the street from the Mt. St. Helens Visitor's Center. Worth a visit.

Date of Stay:
 February, 2011
Rate Paid:
 $28.00

3

Ocean City State Park

In winter time, only two of the four loops are open: One RV loop with hookup (w/e/s) sites and non hookup sites; and one tent loop. Keep in mind, during the winter, it rains a lot. There is someone in the office during the day and you are supposed to stop and get assigned a spot. However, with all the rain, you may end up going back to the office and saying, "Um.... the spot we were assigned is flooded, can we get a different spot?" If you get there after hours, you can do self check-in, they leave you a list of the available spots. The park takes reservations year round, but reservations aren't really critical in winter unless it's a clam dig weekend. If you like to clam dig, AND.... you want a full hookup site, you better make a reservation. If you don't make a reservation, you can still get in, but in the non-hookup sites. If you have reservations, and your site ends up being flooded, the rangers will do their best to switch you to a different site. During my stay, I noted two trails to the beach. One trail is in a "day use" area, and the other trail is near site 157. Being in site 157 isn't a big deal in the winter, but I'm guessing you would NOT want to be in that site in the summer. I walked around the "closed" loops and also noted a beach trail between Sites 108 and 110. If you like privacy in your RV site, either take a back-in site with NO hookups, or a full hookup pull through site. Those sites seem to be the best, with lots of vegetation for separation. There are full hookup "back-in" sites, but those seem to be close together with not much separation (but there is room for slides). The tent sites seem to be spaced apart. Tent site 35 seems to have the most room, but it's next to the roadway. The rest rooms were typical for state parks, cement floors. You have to buy tokens for the showers, 50 cents (two tokens) for three minutes.

Date of Stay:
 December, 2010
Rate Paid:
 $28.00

4

Dosewallips State Park

Very nice park. The sites are laid out in "circles of ten" with lots of grass. There is good spacing between each site. Lots of trees for shade (and for entertaining cats who like to watch little animals run up and down the trees...). In the morning, there were lots of elk roaming the park. The elk are protected at this park. Since this was winter, parts of the park were closed. But the part that was open had full hookup sites (w/e/s), partial hookup sites (w/e) and some "electric only" sites, as well as tent sites and some camping cabins. The rate I paid is for "full hookup." The "partial" was $1 less. I don't remember what "electric only" was. Tent sites were $14. Restrooms were fairly clean for a state park. Showers required tokens, 50 cents for 3 minutes. For those who don't have satellites and rely on antenna, I got a few digital channels. Verizon Air Card worked here. Believe it or not, there was even a camp host! I talked to them and they were great people! The camp hosts told me that there wasn't a ranger at night, but one could be called within 15 minutes if needed. Park wasn't very crowded when I was there, only three RV's. Great park if you like to RV in the winter time. In Washington State, only the parks on the coast stay open year round.

Date of Stay:
 November, 2010
Rate Paid:
 $28.00

5

Farragut State Park

Wow, this is really camping! You can smell the pine trees, and there are squirrels anc chipmunks and birds all over the place. Beautiful park. There are four camping areas. Waldron, Gilmore, Snowberry, and Whitetail. Of the four, Whitetail is the "non-hookup" campground, the other three campgrounds are water and electric. During my stay, Waldron was the only campground open, the rest were closed for the season. Waldon has three camping loops. Each loop in Waldron has one spot with a small, but nice camping cabin to rent. In Waldron, the camping spots are appropriately spaced apart to allow for privacy. Plenty of woods to enjoy. Some spaces are pull through, and some are back-in. Some sites have 50 amp, some have 30 amp. The sites in Waldron are all paved, with a gravel tent pad, very nice metal picnic table, and fairly new firerings with attached grills. The rangers want you to keep your tents on the pad and not on the grass. There are grey water sink pit drains located every few camp sites. In addition to the four campgrounds, there is a "primitive" camping area called Camp Ward for around $10. You must have a "fully self contained" camping vehicle for this area. Firewood is available from the camp host for $5. Even though Waldron was the only campground open, the restrooms were shut down. Only the vault toilets were available for use. At this time of year, it was first come first serve. You check in at the Visitor Center and they give you a site. The dump station has three lanes, NO WAITING! As far as camping is concerned, I can't find any "negatives" about this park. The price represents the amount before Idaho sales tax is added. I don't know if satellites work here, but over the air, you will get only two TV stations. Also, I want to point out that I could not use my electric scooter bike here. My electric scooter bike does not require a license (in most states), but the park requires that all "motorized" vehicles be licensed and street legal. I believe my scooter bike (powered by a battery) is a "gray area," but I didn't push the issue. Also, while I was checking in, I heard something said to someone else about, "If you don't tow your car in, you pay extra for the car." So, this park may be picky about "your tow car actually has to be towed."

Date of Stay:
 October, 2010
Rate Paid:
 $24.00

5

Marina Park

Nineteen dollars (as of this writing) and I get full hookups (w/e/s) and free cable? SWEET! Even better, this park will honor the Federal Golden Age Pass if you have one of those. Cash or check only. You fill out a slip and pay at a pay station. This is a beautiful park facing the Columbia River. You have to drive through a bit of a "so so" area, but when you get here, the park is beautiful! I came here on a Thursday, and there were only four spots open, one on the river, and three on the upper deck. I grabbed the river spot. The camp host said I was lucky, normally you pretty much need a reservation to get into this park. The RV spots are all pull through. There are three back in spots that right now have water only. The camp host said that the power and water haven't been installed in those spots yet. Those three spots, when they are completed, will be very wide to allow for slideouts, but all three will be on the pavement next to each other. The current existing spots are somewhat close together (but not bad, ok for slideouts) with a small bit of well maintained grass between each. The spots close to the river have a steep slope to them. I have hydraulic leveling jacks, and I don't think I got quite level from front to back. But for NINETEEN dollars, I'm not complaining. The cable isn't the greatest, the channels are all pretty snowy. But for NINETEEN dollars, you just shouldn't complain about the cable. There is a small restroom with a fish cleaning station. There are also larger restrooms with showers, and those were very clean! One of the great features is the very nice outdoor kitchen, which is available to rent. There is a kids play area. There is also very nice "swimming hole" and it's definitely a swimming hole. Looks like a wide hole was dug on purpose to create an "inlet" to allow water from the Columbia River to create the "swimming hole." Looks decent enough to swim in. Lastly, there is a very nice boat ramp (no charge as of this writing). Park is nice and quiet. This is really a gem! The camp host said the park is open April through November. Oh, did I remember to say the price was NINETEEN dollars?

Date of Stay:
 September, 2010
Rate Paid:
 $19.00

4

Bear Butte State Park

This is a wonderful park to learn how to use your generator. No hookups at all! There is a vault toilet, but that is it for restrooms. There is a water faucet for filling your tank. I really enjoyed walking around. If you really want to just get away from it all, this campground is cheap! I enjoyed walking around. My rating is for the "get away from it all" experience and not about the amenities.

Date of Stay:
 June, 2009
Rate Paid:
 $7.00

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