Bud Simpson

El Reno is a few miles west of Oklahoma City, and the city park at Lake El Reno offers the usual amenities - fishing, canoeing, picnicking. It also offers a pretty nice place to camp.

There are two camping loops - East is smaller of the two and has sites, including a few pull-throughs, with water, and 20/30 amp service. These sites are $15 per night

West is all pull-through full-hookups with 20/30/50 amp service. These large, level, sites are $20 per night.

All sites are first-come, first-served. Payment is by Iron Ranger and is checked daily. The park is patrolled by El Reno Police on a regular basis, and, in spite of being a half-mile from I-40, is pretty quiet.

This park was a nice surprise. We had planned on going farther west, but after a long day of driving, this popped up on our list of possible stops. We're glad we stayed here.

We were some of the first to stay at Stella Mare last fall, and to be honest, we would do better to come back and look at again. Much was under construction when we stayed, but we had an event to attend, and Galveston was invaded by 500,000 motorcycles for the Lone Star Bike Rally that weekend, so we were happy to have a place to stay.

Some amenities were still under construction, but we weren't at all inconvenienced. The reservation system was easy to work with, and check-in was painless.

The park is very nicely done, with large, level, sites and easy access. Even on the bike weekend, there was very little noise. Management is friendly, and the campground hosts are always available to lend a hand.

There is a large pool and deck close by that has a view of the Gulf, and if you're a beach person, beach access is right across the highway.

We'll come back next year and give it a better look, but we enjoyed our stay.

Truth is, it doesn't take much to get a three-star rating from me. If everything works, you'll get a three. Four takes a bit more: good handling of reservations, a quiet park with hookups that are trouble-free and easy to access. It's big-rig friendly, and a number of sites have full hook-ups in their pull-throughs.

Our site was pretty level, and the cable TV hookup is good quality. Wifi is good, and reasonably fast, but it's wide open and unsecured. I would warn against transmitting sensitive information without adequate network security.

I have heard other travelers rave about the on-site restaurant, but we weren't able to try it out.

Since this park is right on a main East-West Interstate, it fills up in the afternoon, and in the morning, the flocks of RVs scatter. There are always plenty of people around if you're looking for conversation, but if you want to keep to yourself, that's easy enough, too.

Hot Springs KOA is carved out of a hillside spot near town. It's close enough for easy access to Hot Springs National Park and the town of Hot Springs - they're really all one thing - but far enough out that traffic isn't bad, and noise is minimal.

Management was friendly and helpful and the park was clean.

We never saw anyone who worked for the park, and we seemed to be one of only a couple
of people who weren't full-timers. I think this park is fairly new, though. It may improve as time passes and the summer travel season gets underway.

There was a fair amount of highway noise, and the sites were not particularly level.

Other than that, the hookups were ok, and there were laundry facilities on site.

We travel easy most of the time, and often invoke the 222 rule - two hundred miles, arrive by two in the afternoon, stay two nights. The 222 brought us to Green River, Utah this time, and we decided to try Shady Acres.

Check-in was fast and easy, and our site was clean and level - long enough for our 40' fiver and our truck. There are a number of sites that in deed, do have plenty of shade, or if you need satellite signal, there are open areas as well. We don't generally use on-site restrooms or showers, but these were available, as is an on-site laundromat. Next door is a convenience store and fuel stop - which offers a .03 per gallon discount on fuel, and a BOGO deal at Blimpies for sandwiches. We were there in peak melon season and grabbed a couple of Black Diamond seedless watermelons, too.

The park is quiet and well-maintained, although it's fairly close to a set of railroad tracks. These didn't bother us at all.

Green River is a very small town, and has a minimum of goods, services, and meal options available. For us, though, it was a good chance to rest and recharge.

RV parks are few and far between between the Olympic Peninsula and Bainbridge Island. I needed a short stay for business in Seattle, and wanted to be close to the ferry at Bainbridge. Eagle Tree is a short bus ride from the ferries, and was eager to accommodate our up-in-the-air schedule.

Our pull-through site was snug against our neighbors, but had we stayed longer, would have probably been moved to a perimeter site with much more room.

The park is clean, well-managed, and very friendly. Don't blink, or you'll miss your turn on Washington 305, but make the turn and they'll take good care of you.

We made reservations for Oasis Rv Park a couple of days in advance, and when we arrived, our site was ready and check-in was painless. The people at the front office are helpful and friendly.

The park has all the amenities you'd expect from a large facility like this one - 189 spaces - laundry, wifi, cable tv, pet friendly, kid's play area, propane, pool. Most of the sites are pull-through, and are level and spacious. Hookups are in great condition - water pressure is strong, the power connectors and cable are easy to get to, and the sewer is close by. There are a number of long-term residents in the park, but nothing run-down or shabby-looking. The park is extremely quiet at night

The park is ten years old, but kept in top shape. Situated just down the frontage road from Cadillac Ranch, access to the park is easy from I-40 at exit 60.

Only fluke I found was that the cable system had no local channels - we had to switch back to over-the-air for local weather information. Not a deal-breaker for either of us, to be sure.

This is a pretty nice stay-over spot, and up to KOA quality standards, but this is the tightest spot we've ever stayed in.

Check-in was fast and easy, the staff was friendly, and directions to our site were clear and easy to follow. Once parked and hooked up, we realized how tight we were all jammed into this park. When our awning was extended, it was less than three feet from the slide of the Class A next door. Maybe we're a bit spoiled from spending the last few months in wide-open spaces, but it was the tightest park we've ever stayed at.

It's quiet enough, and while there were many full-time residents there, none seemed sketchy. All the amenities were present, and the area had all the shopping necessary to get us restocked and back on the road again.

Coronado Campground is owned by the City of Bernalillo, New Mexico, and abuts the Coronado Historic Site (you should go there). The park is mostly pull-throughs, and there are some 50A sites, but ours was 30A. Not an issue, as the weather was pretty agreeable. We wanted a place close to Albuquerque, so we could explore, but without the ABQ prices.

Note: If you're headed this way during the Abuquerque International Balloon Fiesta in August, the rates here, as well as the rates everywhere else will double. Facts of life.

Our site was level and easy to get into, and the sites here all have stucco ramadas for shade, each with picnic tables inside. The sites are pretty well spaced, and we never felt crowded.

One quirk, the water hookup was toward the front of the site, and on the wrong side. Again, we carry 100 feet of hose, so that wasn't all that uncomfortable, either.

There are plenty of places to eat nearby, as well as a casino, and all the necessary services. Our stay there was quiet and without incident. We arrived on a Saturday, and the campground host, Louise, was friendly, and had all kinds of recommendations about the area, where to eat, and what to do.

Again, nothing fancy, but a pretty good value along I-25.