Technomadia

Home Base: 
High-tech nomads on the road full time since 2006.
Type of RV: 
1961 GM 4106 (35' Vintage Bus)
Web Site: 
http://www.technomadia.com
https://www.facebook.com/Technomadia
@Technomadia
143 Reviews
137 Photos
33 States Visited

Recent Reviews

McKinney Falls State Park

5
Dec 2013

Still a Fabulous Place!

Glad to return to McKinney Falls State Park. We love that the sites are huge, it feels more like pulling into your own lot of land for a bit, rather than an overcrowded RV Park.

There was some recent flooding of Onion Creek, which runs through the park, so some of the hiking trails and the picnic areas are a bit in disarray. But looks like they were actively working on getting it cleaned up.

We love that this park is in south Austin and close enough to enjoy everything, but far enough out that you feel you're away from the big city. Although, it would be nice to have some amenities closer by.

Prices have gone up here, 30a sites are now $20/night and 50a are $24/night. You still need to pay a $6 pp day fee on top of that, or have a state park pass.

Had pretty solid Verizon, AT&T and T-Mobile LTE here - although the AT&T towers were frequently overloaded.

Date of Stay:
 December, 2013
Rate Paid:
 $20.00

Junction North Llano River RV Park

5
Nov 2013

A welcome port in the storm!

Driving across Texas into Austin from the west, we had a winter storm following us. After a long driving day of trying to stay above the freezing line, we found reviews for this park and decided to give it a try.

While we were standing in line to check in, we heard the receptionist turn folks away on the phone because they were full up due to the unexpected weather. But we were so delighted and relieved that they were able to accommodate us in their overflow late arrival area. Just a basic 30a hook-up, but it was enough to keep us warm overnight.

We didn't have time to check out the rest of the park - and it was too cold to walk around - but it looked really well maintained, and nicely laid out. Even at full capacity, it looked spacious and uncrowded.

We were also very surprised to discover the WiFi was usable! And they only charge due $24 for our overflow spot, which we're sure is not their regular rate for a site.

Thank you Junction North Llano for accommodating us, and giving us a port in the storm!

Date of Stay:
 November, 2013
Rate Paid:
 $24.00

Balmorhea State Park

3
Nov 2013

Beautiful Pool, Decent Campground

An easily accessible state park when passing through west Texas via I-10. We stopped here for two nights to rest up in between long driving days.

The campground is a bit on the basic side and not typical of many of the state parks we've been in. The pull throughs are staggered down a row, and when they're all full up can feel a bit more like a commercial RV park. The rest of the park are back-ins.

We arrived after hours and took one of the last remaining pull-thru sites. When we checked in the next morning, we discovered that the site we had was a water/electric/cable site - thus cost $17, not the $14 we were expecting. Not a big deal, but wish the pedestals were clearly marked to note this.

We did enjoy a very pleasant swim in the pool - which is absolutely huge and magnificently clear. Then a winter storm hit that night, and we got out the next morning before the deep freeze descended upon us. Glad we got our swim in while it was warm out!

All and all, a pleasant enough stop over. But not up to our expectations for a state park.

We were able to get a 4G AT&T signal, but only by using a booster - and Verizon had usable 3G.

Date of Stay:
 November, 2013
Rate Paid:
 $17.00

Leasburg Dam State Park

4
Nov 2013

Scenic, Spacious and Great Price!

We routed this way on the recommendation of friends, as a great place to be in reasonable distance of Las Cruces and Hatch. But mostly we were intrigued by the scenic spacious looking sites, $14 rate and usable WiFi.

And we were not disappointed one bit! What a gem of a little park not too far off I-25. It's rather small, just two loops. And while were there, about 4 of the unreservable sites were closed.

One loop has reservable sites online, and they are all pull-thrus. If they are empty, you can snag one for a night at a time. There are also a couple of dispersed campsites down this way.

The other loop is all first come first serve with a variety of water/electric and developed primitive sites. You can keep your site for up to 14 days once you claim it.

The confusing part is the entrance - after the check-in kiosk, there is a Y, but there is very little signage to let you know which loop is which. To the left goes to the first-come first-serve loop. Staying straight to the right goes to the reserved loop.

We picked left, and got to the end of the loop, and discovered it's not really a loop. The turn around is set up for smaller rigs. We had to quickly get out and unhitch our toad and back out. So highly recommend walking this loop first before taking a larger RV down here. Most of the sites down this loop are only suitable for smaller rigs anyway - and they really really need to put a warning sign at the Y.

Thankfully, there was a wonderful spot big enough for our 35' RV available on the loop and we took it. Very private feeling, great views and we got great WiFi reception using our boosting gear.

At $14/night for a water/electric site - this place is a fantastic value. We did venture into Las Cruces one evening for dinner, and found the location just a bit too far for our tastes to be convenient.

Date of Stay:
 November, 2013
Rate Paid:
 $14.00

The Scenic Road RV Park

3
Nov 2013

Nicer than normal QZ Park

We stopped in Quartzite while passing through town to meet up with a friend, and he selected the park.

Looking around the town, this park seems much more updated and modern than others around. But it doesn't change the fact that it's basically a big lot with close by sites.

The staff was super friendly at check-in, and we were guided to our site and given a full overview of the hook-ups. While some newer RVers would likely appreciate the extra help, as long time full timers it was a bit overdone.

It seems the park goes to great lengths to provide a social atmosphere with lots of activities - we weren't there long enough to check them out however.

The park claims 'best WiFi in town' in their office, but we actually found it pretty unusable and slow. Upon check in we were asked not to stream video, perhaps others weren't following the rules? The park was selected so we had good WiFi to look at an online project our friend is working on, but we had to resort to the Verizon MiFi to get online.

We were also disappointed that in the fine print of their extensive rules, they forbid bus conversions. As we live/travel in a vintage bus conversion that we've invested a lot of time and money into keeping well maintained, modern and a showpiece, that was a bit offensive. Glad they let us in anyway... but fellow bus nuts, beware.

Date of Stay:
 November, 2013
Rate Paid:
 $28.50

McDowell Mountain Regional Park

5
Nov 2013

This One Deserves 6 Stars

Wow. We had this park recommended to us by friends, and even seeing their pictures didn't prepare us for how gorgeous this park is. What a gem!

The park is very well laid out, with lots of room around each site. Even if they shrunk the park in half and doubled the number of spots, it would still be spacious.

And the views?? You're surrounded by classic Arizona desert, mountains and cacti. The coyotes howl all night long (be careful with your pets!). The sunsets are amazing.

There are several hiking trails throughout the park - many of them multi-use for mountain biking and horses.

All sites have water and 50/30 amp hook-ups, and each is immaculately maintained. We could not have been more impressed.

Due to its distance from Phoenix, Mesa, Tempe and other metro areas - it's not an ideal basecamp unless you don't mind the 30-45 mile drive into town. But what a delightful experience not too far from town!

To top it off, we had a solid Verizon LTE signal and 4G AT&T signal.

Routing tip: Make sure your GPS is aimed for the campground itself, many will route you to a dead end road in Fountain Hills that is just one of the borders of the park. You should be routing up McDowell Mountain Rd on the east border of the park.

* note - while we were there, they had signs up that the nightly fee will soon be increasing to $30. The nightly fee below down not include the $8 reservation fee.

Date of Stay:
 November, 2013
Rate Paid:
 $25.00

Sam's Family Spa Hot Water Resort

4
Nov 2013

Love the Hot Pools!

This is a quirky and charming little place. A bit off the beaten path and far from amenities, but a beautiful desert location.

The spot for RVs are a bit on the short side, but not bad. All are basically the same, perhaps some wider than others. We appreciate that you choose your own site when you arrive, and then go register at the office. Most of the permanent mobile homes look older and some quite in need of updating. But the RV part is very well maintained and offers what you expect for a full hook-up site.

But you don't come here for the RV Park - it's all about the spa area! Which is absolutely an oasis, and so beautifully landscaped with palm trees, grass, flowers, waterfalls and birds. The pools are all well kept. And 4 hot pools, sauna and steam rooms are absolutely divine. What a treat to go soak several times a day! Although we do wish they'd dim the lights in the evening to make it a bit more relaxing.

Our biggest dings for the park are:

- Pricing. The daily rate is $50, while the monthly is $540 (plus electric). Definitely leaves the impression that they're making their money on short term stays. (We got the weekly rate of $300.. which is still on the high side, in our opinion.)

- The WiFi is provided by Tengo, and is abysmal. You get 2 free days per month, regardless of how long you say - and then you have to subscribe. But it was barely useable, and they throttle you down after just 100MB of usage.

- They offer no recycling onsite.

Verizon works great here, there's a tower disguised as a palm tree at the entrance. We got great AT&T 4G signal, but there hardly ever seemed to be any data capacity on the tower.

All and all, we loved our stay here. And in the future we'll probably try to plan our routing to stay here for a month.

Date of Stay:
 November, 2013
Rate Paid:
 $43.00

Viking RV Park

2
Nov 2013

Tolerable for a night

Wanting to stop for the night to visit a friend in the area, we selected this park because it accepts Passport-America.

The park is convenient off of Highway 99, and seems to have a couple of open pull thru-spots that are on a self check-in basis. The spots are very narrow with close-by neighbors, and if you have a rig longer than ours (we're a 35' MH pulling a Mini Cooper), you may have to unhitch to fit in the spots.

The park is mostly permanents in older rigs, but they all appeared to be well maintained, and several have done nice landscaping. No one seemed unfriendly towards us, but the neighbors didn't seemed overly welcoming of overnighters either (which is understandable, it must get old having constantly having people constantly coming and going from what is mostly a permanent neighborhood).

There is a lot of highway noise and train noise at this park, that didn't give us the best night's sleep. And many in the park start their day around 5am - so you hear their trucks starting up and leaving.

To add to our experience, the park had a tree trimming crew in around 7:30a using power tools. We took this as a sign it was time to get up and move on.

If we need to stop in this area in the future, we'd seek other options.

Date of Stay:
 November, 2013
Rate Paid:
 $20.00

Cal Expo RV Park

3
Nov 2013

Big Gravel Lot in an Ideal Location

Cal Expo is nicely situated if you need access to downtown Sacramento or the surrounding areas. For our purposes (purging our storage unit once and for all) - the location could not have been any better.

There are two sections to the park - the very unlevel paved parking lot when you first enter the park, and then the more level gravel lot 'out back'. We were assigned a spot right in the middle of the big gravel lot for our 2-week stay.

The sites are a tad on the small size, but considering this an RV Park designed to accommodate the fairgrounds - spaciousness wasn't the top concern. The sites in the gravel lot of plenty long however, as they are designed for double parking for larger events.

What perplexed us was that the park wasn't at more than 25% capacity on any given day we were there. But yet, they constantly bunched folks up instead of spacing them out to give everyone more breathing room. For a while, we had neighbors so close we could hear their TV, and their dogs constantly started barking anytime they heard us move nextdoor. In retrospect, we would have asked to move to one of the many back-in spots along the perimeter instead - they seemed to keep those fairly well spaced out.

There's lots right near by - a mall, dining, shopping, post office, etc. Nothing really right in walking distance, nor did we feel comfortable walking around the surrounding areas - a good bit of traffic, and many folks living on the streets nearby.

The biking trail does have an access point right outside the park's entrance, which was nice for a quick watch. You can even get up on the levy from there and watch the horse races next door.

If you're looking for a quiet relaxing spot - this isn't for you. There's constant loud activity at the fairgrounds next door and the lights in the lot are very bright. But if you're just looking for a place to park in town with full hook-ups - it's a pretty good deal.

The WiFi was pretty stable the entire time we were there, and quite usable going through our WiFiRanger extender. AT&T and Verizon both had strong LTE signals too.

The rate reflects the weekly rate we paid at $195/week.

Date of Stay:
 October, 2013
Rate Paid:
 $27.85

Calistoga RV & Campground (at Napa County Fairgrounds)

4
Oct 2013

Basic campground, Fantastic Location!

Situated just a couple blocks from the trendy downtown strip, this is a fantastic location!

The campground itself is a bit bare bones - basically a big parking lot with some trees. The partial hook-up pull-thru spots are all 'awning-to-awning' and rather tight if they are full. The full hook-up sites are all normal pull-thrus and seemed to be a bit tight but manageable.

We asked for a partial back-in site and were at first assigned spot 55. When we got there, we discovered that the electrical hook-ups are all shared so that the odd numbered spots all had the hook-ups on the 'wrong' side. When we asked if we could move to an even numbered spot - they had no problem with that.

During our stay, the campground was not full at all. So we were a bit surprised when they assigned someone right next to us when there was plenty of space elsewhere.

The WiFi here worked pretty darn well, and we had solid AT&T and Verizon 4G signals.

The nightly rates are $35-38, however they do accept Passport America.

Date of Stay:
 October, 2013
Rate Paid:
 $17.50

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