Rancho California RV Resort
Aguanga, California: After relaxing with
our family for several days, we hit the road. So, today was a driving day -
an unavoidable occurrence if you want to spend a week in Phoenix and you
live in Portland. We made the best of it; listening to books on tape during
that long, awful, straight, drive south on bumpy Highway 99. The sky was
hazy all day, but it was warm. Farmers (and ranchers and oil rigs) were
harvesting crops - we saw truckloads of oranges, onions, cotton and grapes.
(Why are raisins called 'raisins' and not 'dried grapes' like other dried
fruits?) We didn't stop very often and Goldie had no trouble climbing "The
Grapevine" with her new thermostat, so we made it to Los Angeles around 1
p.m. We circled the "outskirts" of Los Angeles on highways 210, to 10, to
15. Traffic was heavy, but it was MOVING. (We drove through San Dimas, but
did not see a Circle K, so I cannot report if anything strange was afoot.)
At around 4:30 p.m. we checked into the oh-so-exclusive
Rancho
California RV Resort in Aguanga, California. (South on 79 from Highway
15, southeast of LA.) After walking around the resort, we think this is the
nicest RV park we have visited... it may be nicer than the resort at Lake
Havasu! Of course, we saw several people cruising around in their golf
carts, dogs on their laps, matching sweat suits... you get the picture.
Opened as a Thousand Trails Park, the park is now owned by Outdoor
Resorts, and is under-going a huge expansion and improvement. Now
300 sites, it will soon be over 600 sites, with an 18-hole golf course
running through the resort. Five holes are finished now and it looks like a
fun, though short, course. Lakes and streams are everywhere and there is
extensive lush-green landscaping, pools, spas, sand volleyball, basketball,
tennis, shuffleboard, horseback riding, a clubhouse, grocery store and a
restaurant. DT saw the prices on RV sites for sale - they go from $29,000 to
over $100,000. Owners have added expanded patios, brick walls/planters and
built-in BBQs to their sites. We are “renting” an owned site for the
exorbitant price of $36 per night - about twice what we usually pay.
Goldie & the BC2
Rancho California RV Resort
Exhausted from the 8-hour drive, DT only ran 4 miles before
dinner. We vegged in front of the TV tonight and will explore the area
tomorrow. Yes, the RV park is nice, but we are curious what it is about this
area that can justify a $100,000 slab of cement.