Some Campground reviews

We've stayed at some very nice campgrounds so far, but two really stand out from the rest. Both are Good Sam Parks, so we get a discount as Good Sam members. The first is the Rancheros de Santa Fe Campground in Santa Fe, New Mexico. This campground was beautiful, with gorgeous views of the surrounding mountains. It was also very family friendly, with a pool and a playground and a movie every night of the week showing in the little campground theater. I popped up some popcorn and sent the boys down to watch War Horse while we were there. The campground also has a beautiful, secluded hiking trail and is just far enough away from the lights of downtown Santa Fe to provide terrific star gazing opportunities at night. The facilities and the laundry room were clean, the wifi worked well and the staff was very knowledgeable about what sights to see, even pointing us to downtown RV parking for the King while we took in the sights. Upon check in they handed us a campground brochure covering the campground rules and including a map of downtown Santa Fe, things to do and see in Santa Fe and a listing of special events going on in Santa Fe. The setting for many scenes in the 1978 Clint Eastwood film “Every Which Way But Loose,” the Teen met a film crew camping there to scout locations for a new Johnny Depp movie. Alas, we camped here a week early, as Johnny himself was scheduled to begin filming scenes in the area the next week.

The other campground was Alpen RosePark in Durango, Colorado. Set in the mountains not far fro Mesa Verde National Park, this campground was also surrounded by beautiful scenery and some of the nicest, friendliest people we have ever met. A pool and playground are available for the kids, the facilities and laundry room were immaculate and a delicious, reasonably priced pancake breakfast is served each morning. The boys took a short walk down the road to a grass airstrip and watched gliders coasting and landing in the late afternoon sun while I caught up on some laundry and reading.

If you ever happen to be camping out west, I hope you'll pay them a visit. I also hope we get the chance to visit again someday!

Campground Review : Moorings Oceanfront RV Resort

While in Maine we stayed at Moorings Oceanfront RV Resort in Belfast. I found it through a simple Google search of campgrounds in the mid-coast Maine area and booked it based solely on their website and reasonable weekly rates. I called to make the reservation, and the person I spoke with was informative and very helpful as I had a ton of questions. I quickly received a confirmation e-mail with directions to the campground and instructions for checking in.

We arrived rather late in the day (around 8) and the office was closed. We checked in at the restaurant, were directed to our site and told to check back in at the office in the morning. Our site was easy to find, all the hookups were easy to access and by 8:30 pm. We were on our way back up to the restaurant for a late dinner.

The sites at Moorings are larger than others we have stayed at, which was very nice. With only 44 sites in the whole campground, you didn't feel like you were smooshed in right next to another motor home and we had room to spread out our chairs around the campfire ring. Each site also has a picnic table and a view of the ocean. The site was level and had hookups for water, electric and cable television. While there was no sewer hookup, the mobile sewer service came through the campground each Monday and Thursday to pump out holding tanks. The dump station was also conveniently located near the exit and was very easy to use.  Here is the evening view from our campsite:

Moorings also provides free Wifi at each campsite. We loved having this available as it meant we could search for things to do in the area and purchase tickets for local boat excursions and whale watches right from our laptop at the picnic table. The connection was pretty fast and I was even able to write a couple of blog posts and check email while we were there. There were bathroom and laundry facilities with free hot showers and coin operated washers and dryers located next to the office. They were very well maintained and clean. The owners and office staff were friendly and helpful.

The owners of Moorings also own a restaurant located right at the campground. Papa J's and the Lobster Bar serves local seafood, pasta dishes, pizza and a variety of homemade desserts. They also have a full bar and wine list and campground guests receive a discount on food. We ate there the night we arrived and it was delicious! 4 of us ordered the fish sandwich, served on a soft roll with french fries. The fish had a wonderful crispy coating and was flaky and buttery inside. We all enjoyed it! The teen, our resident vegetarian, had the three cheese manicotti. It was huge, with at least 4 manicotti shells stuffed with a creamy cheese mixture and served with a delicious, slightly spicy homemade sauce. Our waitress was very nice, helpful and provided quick, excellent service.

The town of Belfast was very nice with a touristy “downtown” area right on the waterfront. It also had a clean, well stocked grocery store (Hannaford) and a couple of auto parts stores, which we predictably had to visit a couple of times. Belfast is also located about halfway between the bigger towns of Bar Harbor and Boothbay and is close to Acadia National Park. We had a fabulous time and hope to return in a couple of years!