Rancho California RV Resort
Wednesday | 18 October 2000 | 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.
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