Full-Time RVers – Campground / RV Park Review: Gila Bend KOA, Gila Bend, Arizona

Gila Bend KOA Campsite Campground Review Full Time RV

While we don’t usually review a campground when we’re only there 1 night (I don’t think it is fair and we can’t give a campground a just review based on a few hours), I’d be remiss if I didn’t tell you about this campground. It was still heavily under construction while we were there, but it is going to be a fantastic campground when it is complete (and you’re reading this at least a few months after our stay so it is likely complete by now!). We’ve been a full-time RV family for almost a year now and this Gila Bend KOA is one of our favorite campgrounds we’ve stayed in to date.

Let me start out by telling you about the owner of this KOA. His name is Scott Swanson and his background is top notch. He came from the entertainment industry, but he also worked hard to turn his family’s RV park around (a different RV park). Let’s pause for a minute and let me tell you, when I say entertainment industry, I mean he was the post-production manager for GILMORE GIRLS. YES. GILMORE GIRLS. <Insert squeals of joy here>

Let’ start by talking about Kamp K9. Most (if not all) KOA campgrounds have a dog park for your pups, but this one is really one of the nicest ones we’ve seen. With 3 separate areas for social and non-social pups and their humans, there are areas both grassy and rocks for pups to choose their turf. They had toys to play with and a water dish and fountain to help wet their whistle after a rough play session.

And now for the humans – the pool. Scott went all out on this one. Between the travertine tile surrounding the pool and the nice lounge chairs, we could hang out at this pool all day. The pool is the absolute nicest we’ve seen at any campground and it has a ledge all the way down one side for sitting and relaxing. Just off the edge of the pool is a gorgeous turf area with a swing. And since pets aren’t allowed in the pool area, it is a nice place to kick off your shoes and feel the grass between your toes. Oh, did I mention he keeps the pool heated to a beautiful 90 degrees? Because, he does. It was a PERFECT place to wallow in those post-Vegas vibes. I even sipped some Bee Cosmopolitan juice by the pool (because you know I stocked up on that from The Juice Standard before I left – I SO wished they would ship their fresh pressed juices – hint, hint!).

The bathrooms just aren’t quite done being built (at the time of our stay in November 2017), but based on everything else we’ve seen Scott incorporate at this KOA, we’re certain they’ll be just as wonderful. There were a few other things like the mini golf/putting green area under construction, but some other nice features were the huge laundry room and the beautiful landscaping. I just love a good desert landscape and this campground really accentuated their nature environment with over the top, beautiful landscaping.

The Ranch House is a large common area where many of the activities happen and I must say, it appears that there is always something going on here. Lots of activities from water aerobics to chair yoga and everything in between.

He also has one very unique RV site that I must tell you about. I’m certain this one will be a tough spot to get as I imagine it will always book far in advance. One of his upgraded sites not only has a concrete patio for the humans, but it has a private fenced in dog run for your pup! Yes, your very own private dog run to play in with your pup. I. JUST. LOVE. IT. Why don’t more campgrounds offer this upgrade? We would absolutely pay more for a private fenced in area for our sweet Cash.

And also, because we mentioned Cash – here’s a few sweet photos of him protesting the next car ride.

Be sure to check out this KOA if you’re ever near the little town of Gila Bend, Arizona! Let us know how everything is now that it is finished. We’d love to make it back here one day! Send us pics if you see updates!

Full-Time RVers – Campground / RV Park Review: San Francisco North / Petaluma KOA – Petaluma, California

San Francisco North Petaluma KOA Campground Review

The San Francisco North / Petaluma KOA is one of the nicest KOA’s we’ve been to. From the gorgeous landscaping to the amazing laundry room, this KOA is a great one.

The restrooms were nice, but I want to focus on the laundry facilities here because they are fantastic. There is no shortage of washers and dryers at this campground. They even have large commercial washer and dryers which are great for getting the chance to wash the bed comforters. It was great to be able to clean these items without trying to stuff them into a regular washing machine.

Security here is tight though and every person staying at the resort is required to wear a bracelet (think the bracelet you receive to get into a concert or fair or club or something like that). It was quite strange to have to wear one of these to stay an RV resort and with a 9 week old puppy, he just wanted to chew them off.

They have a nice playground for children as well. And, if you’re wanting to venture out to San Francisco for a tour, they actually have their own tour bus and tour. It sounds like a great option if you’re interested in seeing San Francisco without the fuss of driving into the city.

With close proximity to Napa Valley, we couldn’t miss the opportunity to visit a winery recommended by our friends. We took a trip over to Cuvaison Winery, a beautiful little dog-friendly winery. I’m not a huge wine fan, but I absolutely loved the wines we tried. Cash had his very first outing and here and they loved him! They brought him water and treats and just loved on him the whole time we were tasting the wines. He was in pure puppy heaven.

We also luckily left this area just before it was ransacked by wildfires. While the KOA and the Cuvaison winery survived, many of the places around them were not as lucky. Many wineries in the area did not survive the fires and the KOA ended up housing many people who lost everything. We were very lucky with our timing and leaving the area when we did, but we’re so thankful we got to spend the time there we did!

Look Mom, More Corn – Full-Time RVers in Nebraska

Look, there’s a cornfield.

Oh, there goes another one.

How many cornfields could there possibly be?

Do we really need this much corn?

Apparently, yes.

I also drove the Gypsy Hauler for the first time too! I was surprised at how not scary it was to drive nearly 60 feet of vehicle!

And with cornfields, comes great responsibility. The responsibility to wear a cornhusk on your head while running around a gas station parking lot yelling “Go Big Red!”

But, before we could even make it to Nebraska, we had to travel through Iowa and Kansas. Guess what we had to replace? The other tires. All of them. We purchased a total of 5 tires in 4 days to start the trip. Two different technicians told us they believed the tires were faulty. A piece inside completely stripped out just like the first one. After spending 3 hours at a truck stop in Iowa, we were finally on the road again (cue the Willie Nelson soundtrack).

We didn’t make it too far before crossing the Nebraska state line, home of the Lewis and Clark Expedition Welcome Center. We try to stop at most of the welcome centers and this is one of the most unique ones I’ve ever seen. With interactive displays and replicas of items that would have been found on the Lewis and Clark Expedition, the welcome center was both interactive and educational.

One of our stops in Nebraska was a little town called Gothenburg, home of one of the original Pony Express Stations. We had to make a slight detour off the interstate to get there, but it was well worth it. While this is not the original location of the building, the building itself was a Pony Express stop. It used to be 2 stories tall, but as the years went on and the building deteriorated, they moved just the top portion to this new location for restoration. Many artifacts from the Pony Express era are located in the building including this entertaining job advertisement poster.

The other stop was a highlight for me. I found this place online one day on RoadsideAmerica.com (an awesome website for random, kitschy tourist stops across America).

Behold the glory of Carhenge. This stop is a complete gem. It is a complete replica of Stonehenge built out of cars. And only American cars are allowed. There’s a graveyard in the back for a few cars that were non-American made. These cars were taken to their death and received a gravestone, but not until one of them was paraded through the town in a funeral procession first.

For my RV friends out there – here’s a review of Grand Island KOA in Nebraska. While we only stayed here for one night, it is definitely a nice little area I wouldn’t mind coming back to. It doesn’t seem like there is much to do in the area and we were simply passing through so I can’t speak to the surrounding activities. We pulled in at 8:00pm and left the next morning around 6:00am. We pulled in just in time to order a pizza with campsite delivery service – definitely a plus! I wasn’t actually able to enjoy the pizza as there are no gluten free options, but my parents definitely benefited from this park amenity. This was a huge plus as there is not much around the park other than cornfields.

There were 2 shower areas, but I was only able to make my way to one because we were there so briefly. The shower had the best water pressure I’ve ever had at an RV park and the water was so hot I couldn’t turn the heat all the way up! The showerhead was even adjustable with different massage levels. This was probably one of the best bathhouse shower facilities I’ve ever seen.

For those with kids or dogs, there is a pet walk area and a playground for the kids. As well as pool for everyone. It was gorgeous at night as the sunset over the cornfields and the lightning bugs came to life. They danced everywhere through the night. I ended up not getting much sleep as I stayed up way too late watching the lightning bugs chase each other around.

The staff was incredibly friendly and provided a golf cart escort to our site to ensure we fit properly and had the proper placement on our site. They even made sure to take our pizza order before we drove our camper to our site as we arrived right before the pizza shop was closing. They made sure to let us know that before even getting us checked in.

All in all, Grand Island KOA is a nice RV park for passing through Nebraska or for a nice peaceful getaway. I would return to this campground for some relaxing time in the country.

Oh, and we’ve never seen a water hook up like the above before. (Update: apparently, it is a mid-West thing as our next campground had this kind of water hookup, too.)