Heading Further North

With two good days (and three nights) to get the work done before storing our 5th wheel, today is when we close it up, roll it to one of two secure storage facilities here at Moabi Regional Park, CA.  Once done, we head north to Las Vegas.

To post photos of cleaning, vacuuming, laundry and more seem pointless.  With plenty of time to take long hikes around here though, the photos that follow feature this nice - but sadly under utilized and poorly managed - RV facility.

Would have loved to take a ride too......!

Even with the temperatures dropping to the mid-60's, it has been a pleasant few days here on the banks of the Colorado River.  It is a picturesque area.

Nice planters that dot the marina boardwalk

The marina is very, very quiet but the restaurant and bar remain open.

Patrons do cavort the riverside restaurant and bar but it hardly seems to generate enough business to warrant keeping the doors open in the winter months.  Only a few short years back, this RV resort was more than half full; generating a lot more volume for the restaurant and certainly for the County.  On our walks, we counted about 25-28 RV sites occupied on the peninsula - river side.  That is about 10% occupancy!  Pathetic, considering the beauty of this area.

Great landscaping along the riverside chalets.

We did not see one chalet rented during our stay.  Realizing that this area is crazily busy in the summer months,  one would think a bit of marketing could generate better off season business.  Offering winter snowbirds a better monthly deal would re-generate the fun of winters past that we fondly recall.  Doubling the monthly RV rates - with no improvements - killed the park. Few snowbirds now call this place their winter home.

A solitary houseboat awaiting the summer party crowds.

Great idea for a water fall.  Sounds great too.

The private resort in Moabi Regional Park is called Pirate Cove.  It is also the management company, according to local scuttle butt.  The scene below speaks to the theme.

No shortage of diverse views.  This photo points towards the little mining town of Oatman, Arizona in the far away mountain range.

There are 25 riverside RV pods on the Colorado River peninsula.  Those pods can accommodate more than 200 RVs. We have stayed here before, when it was a going concern.  People were friendly, engaged and we shared many fun evenings sitting around beach side fires.

Now?  Take at look at one of the riverside pods in the photo below.  No RVers here!

No RVers in this pod too.

How the County of San Bernardino, CA could continue its relationship with the management contractor defies logic.  The County should take back control and put in a manager with a tiny, weenie bit of marketing smarts and this place could return to its former glory. Filling this place up would go a long way to improving the County's tax base too, I surmise.

Awesome sand dunes along the river's edge.

Jeanette and I love this area.  But we no longer plan extended stays.  Our thinking could change, should Moabi return to its former self.  The long time winter RVers who, for years, called this place home have all left. Most RVers we know or have met know little if anything about this RV county park. Shameful!

Were it not for storing our fiver in the secure facility, including 24 hour security, - while we are back at home for Christmas - we likely would not roll back here.  We may well change our storage plans come next winter. 

That said, this was a good place to be, for our stated purpose, these past three nights. Rather than placing our RV on the peninsula riverside sites, we chose a paved site near the river estuary, next to the boat launch and marina. We are one of five sites that are occupied.  The paved site here can easily accommodate more than 50 RVs.  Sad!

We do have awesome memories of our time spent here, in years past. Hiking the familiar trails, the riverside and the hillsides is a pleasure. Kayaking up and down the Colorado River brings back great memories too. Doing so with so few people around is nice....but it leaves us feeling sad for what this place was and could once again be. But that is out of our control. I don't get the thinking by county politicians and executives.

Anyhow, a few more minor chores and we'll be set to drive further north.  Las Vegas awaits!  It is where we will catch our flight back home for Christmas, this Thursday, Dec. 18th. Something else for Jeanette and I to look forward to. 

Thanks for dropping in.