Zion River Resort RV Park

Zion River Resort RV Park & Campground located in Virgin, UT is bounded by North Creek to the South and the Virgin River to the West. This is a well maintained park in the high desert and its proximity to Zion NP is central for visitors. Not truly a resort as there is no restaurant nor bistro it does nonetheless offer many amenities. The main building houses the office/welcome center, a store offering rv supplies and limited groceries as well as a gift shop. Also ensconced in the building is a comfortable social room and restrooms/showers.  Adjacent and contiguous to this building is the sparkling clear pool and hot tub. Although not quite sized for the number of guests it is adequate, well maintained and clean. There is also a separate bathroom/shower building containing a laundry room to service guests in the back area of the park. The bathrooms/showers are clean and contemporary as is the laundry room. The FHU is standard and the 50 amp electric stable allowing our 60 amp draw to work faultlessly. WiFi is included and neither streaming movies nor music was possible. Actually it was a chore to pull up email. Disappointing WiFi quality given the other attributes of this rv park. Again, as I have heretofore mentioned in other articles, cable and satellite are outdate technologies. The rv park industry needs to respond to this issue; the millennial’s will vote with their feet and opt to stay in parks that have taken the initiative to upgrade their WiFi internet. Internet WiFi signal 91%, -46dBm); speed test was 290Kbps download, 3.6Kbps upload, Latency(loaded) 1.45s. The OTA (over the air antenna) received a few local channels.  Phone service (includes mobile data) was 5G, 4 bars. Unhooking at the staging area entrance is necessary as the turns in the interior roads are not possible with a tow vehicle. All the streets are paved and the entrance to the concrete pull thru sites is straightforward with all the trees trimmed up and back so as not interfere with our coach. The area between sites is irrigated to maintain a green lawn; the site patio is gravel with a picnic table and fire ring. This is only one of two rv parks where we have witnessed the staff actually cleaning the site and grooming the gravel upon departure of an rv (the other being Coastline RV Resort).

The Takeaway: A landscaped rv park with paved streets and concrete pads offers guests a quiet respite from the high desert under trimmed shade trees. Well maintained facilities coupled with a sparkling clear pool and hot tub are just some of the numerous amenities. There is a camper kitchen servicing the tent area and bath/showers are clean and contemporary. The WiFi suffers from lack of broadband and makes retrieving email a struggle. We were informed that they intend to upgrade to fiber optic; however the same thing was stated three years ago. Location is the key due to the campground’s proximity to both Springdale and Zion NP. Go to  www.rickpicks.com for more photographs, other reviews, critiques and essays with links to area attractions and a more detailed review of this park,etc.

Monkey Island RV Resort, Afton, OK

Monkey Island RV is located Monkey Island, OK approximately 30 miles southwest of historic Miami, OK and remnants of the iconic Route 66. This campground is relatively new and is a good example of a well planned park providing broad concrete avenues making entering and exiting the concrete pull-thru sites pleasant. The composition of accommodations include cabins (really motel-like in appearance), a few park models, and along the outside perimeter concrete back-in sites affording the same generous width making parking a non-issue. The grounds are flat on a gently sloping surface which makes the concrete pads out of level, however not so much that obtaining level is not possible. The grounds are well manicured with no shade trees (the trees that are present are placed in such a position that little or no shade will ever be provided). The healthy grass between sites is unusually large providing for a sense of privacy. Each site includes a fire pit, and on a separate concrete apron, a picnic table. The FHU is standard although an odd feature is the electric pedestal with water spigot located at the very back end of the pad and the sewer connection located in the upper front third of the pad. This does necessitate either a long electric cable and water line or a long sewer line. We parked with the coach at the rear of the pad and were able to reach the sewer connection using two sections of 25’ sewer hose. The pads themselves are generously long at 75’+ so parking our 45’ motorcoach and the tow vehicle still left ample room. The campground is located in the quiet Oklahoma countryside. A short walk down E280 Road is MarineMax and Grand Lake. Tera Miranda Marina Resort and Quaterdeck Waterfront Café are also a short walk from the rv park. The park’s main building houses the welcome center, a small store, a groceryette, and guest lounge. Also inside are the bathrooms, showers and laundry; all utilitarian and very clean. Adjacent to the main building is the QuickQue BBQ Shack offering authentic BBQ, smoked on the premises, Wednesday to Sunday. Behind the main building is a playground that was thoughtfully paved with astro turf. Also behind the main building is the sparkling clear pool with patio furniture. We were able to obtain a couple of OTA local tv stations  from nearby Miami, OK. The WiFi was inconsistent and frequently dropped the internet connection, however our Winegard ConnecT WiFi router did record 94% signal, -44 dBm; speed was 7.02 Mbps download, 5.82 Mbps upload and Latency (loaded) of 63ms. Accordingly good enough to stream music and inconsistent performance for streaming movies or tv. Our Pixel phones received 5G, four bars. Not to overlook are two good eating establishments; RoadHog Saloon provides a great daily breakfast; and the Blind Swine (they have two locations, we like the on-the-water venue at Duck Creek) for a great luncheon sandwich of either the Low Country or the Blind Swine Rueben (actually hard to pick a favorite as all the handhelds are delicious). There are many things to do in and around Grand Lake so plan your visit to explore what the Oklahoma lake has to offer.

The Takeaway: a relatively new rv park a short walk from Grand Lake that provides a comfortable and quiet respite for the traveler. The groomed landscaping and large green lawn between sites offers the illusion of privacy. FHU is standard with the electric pedestal and water spigot at the back end and the sewer connection in the front third of the long concrete (75’+) pads. Driving to the site with a tow vehicle is relaxing on the broad concrete avenues with sweeping entry and exit aprons. The bathrooms, showers and laundry room are all located in the main building and are extra clean. Behind the main building is the sparkling clear pool with patio furniture. Go to  www.rickpicks.com for more pictures, other reviews, critiques and essays with links to area attractions and a more detailed review of rv parks as well as reviews of restaurants, etc.

Mahogany & Chrome-Classic Boat Show, Afton, OK

Mahogany & Chrome Classic Show is an annual event at Arrowhead Yacht Club and Marina, Afton, OK. The boat show is sponsored by Heartland Classics. Rather than waste ink on a narrative, we will let our readers enjoy the pictures of these classic boats.

P.S. For an enjoyable slideshow, versus scrolling thru the pictures below, follow this link to my Google Photos. My recommendation would be to cast the slideshow to your HD Smart TV which will provide more vivid and colorful pictures than your phone or laptop.