So on Sunday, May 12th she was sort of relieved when she boarded the motorhome and drove away from the Casita WITH US. During the 2-1/2 hour drive to our first campground destination at the Countryside RV Resort in Apache Junction AZ she was such a good RV traveler. She rode the entire trip laying on the sofa, from where she could see the road and area around us through the large windshield and side window. When we got to the campground and she saw we were in a different place, but still with our traveling ‘home’ and still ALL TOGETHER, she smiled constantly and loved exploring the new surroundings... so many new smells. By now the diarrhea seems to be gone. We have been giving her a tbs of pumpkin with each meal and being in a new place but still with us seems to be doing much to relax her to realize that her worries were unfounded and she can start to enjoy her life again assured of having a Mommy and Papi who will never give her up and take her EVERYWHERE with us.
Our first stopover (7 nights which turned into only 5, thankfully) is at Countryside RV Resort in Apache Junction. Guess they call all or most campgrounds "resort" now because it sounds like a better class of place, and subsequently they can charge more for it, or at least generate greater interest in one staying at their place. Unfortunately, like many, this one is also over exaggerated and in no way a real 'resort'. They even boast a golf course called Snake Sinkhole Golf & Country Club... Ha!! What a laugh. But like most things in rural Arizona (though Apache Junction is more a suburb of Phoenix), even the wildest places have an interesting history. Here is the one for the Snake Golf Course and Country Club in Apache Junction AZ...
Across Arizona, lush, green, manicured golf courses offer an oasis from the desert and a resort from the hustle and bustle of the city. Snake Hole Golf Club is not one of those. It was not carved out of the desert as much as plunked down amid it. There are no water hazards... there is no water, at all. There are no sand traps, unless you count the anthills. However, there are a few hazards.... the occasional rumored rattlesnake and a manhole cover which occasionally presents an olfactory harard. There is no grass. There is little green. But there are 'greens' — made of dirt, some of which is mixed with vegetable oil to keep it flat and smooth around the cups. There are no divots here, just dust clouds when a duffer hits too low and scoops up a chunk of hard-packed earth with his club. Needless to say the golfers don't use their best clubs on this course, knowing they take a beating.
There is a history to Snake Hole Golf, but like the story of the Lost Dutchman in the nearby Superstition Mountains, it is difficult to tease out solid facts from facts written about it. It is rumored that there was a couple from Canada who spent winters in Apache Junction and stayed at the Countryside RV Resort. They wanted to golf, but did not want to pay the high green fees of the better quality professional courses, so they went across the street (Hwy 88, or S. Idaho Road) and between the RV Resort and Hwy 60 (Superstition Freeway), on a stretch of Arizona Desert the built 2 holes. Later, as interest grew, others added holes to 9.
The Snake Hole Golf course is now a private 9-hole golf course The course sits on what looks to the casual observer to be a vacant piece of desert, across the street from Countryside RV Resort, but on closer observation one notices red flags at each hole and benches along the so called 'greens'. Our best guess is that the course dates back to the mid 1980s.
This is what the course looks like up close. Imagine playing that terrain.
Who says Arizonans don't have a sense of humor?
As to the Countryside RV Resort, we would not recommend it, especially to anyone with a large RV and though there are a few other long rigs here, most are just parked here (closed) with no one in residence. Guess it beats storage fees in a secure location with full hook ups. At this timeframe also, even among the majority of park model homes in residence, most are closed up for the season, with their residents aparently having relocate to cooler surroundings, but staff is always around checking up on the park and homes/RVs. Our RV is a 41 ft diesel pusher and the lots feel cramped. There are a few amenities (3 small holes of putting greens, shuffleboard courts, ample pool, a gym, laundry,etc) and they claim a 'dog walk', however it is nothing more than a narrow stretch of gravel between the rear fence of the resort and the sidewalk, of Winchester Dr., which is riddled with old broken beer bottles and made us worry about walking our Roxy there. There are three gates along the back fence and renters are give a "Pet Key" for the locks on those gates, so if you get out there only to realize that you forgot the gate key, you cannot get out to walk your dog and are forced to walk him/her among the vacant lots. However, the only pet waste disposal cans are located by the rear gates, so you may need another long walk to dispose of your potty bags. This is a more an older (as to the park itself and as to its residents) park-model home community, that rents spaces to RVs o fill up the number of spaces that they are require to maintain for RVs, to be considered an 'RV' resort. As such they have several RV memberships available, such as our reason for being here. We wanted to leave our Casita in Benson a week earlier, as the next-door neighbor had started building their own casita and the banging was driving us bonkers. However, we were unable to addd a week to our previously scheduled reservation at Verde Valley RV Resort, so we picked this one because it is a Thousand Trails membership park, which allowed us to camp here (with full hook-ups and 50-Amp electric) absolutely FREE. As such it is an 'OK' destination, but given the other options, another 'resort' may be more ideal. On a scale of 10, Mary gives it a 5-6; Bill gives it a 3-4. Oh and IF you have a large rig with a long tow vehicle, it may behoove you to unhook before trying to come in through the main entrance as the entrance roadway and gate are narrow and limited. Bill managed to get through without scraping anything, but only with about 3-4" at the front left mirror and 3-4" at the right rear of the F-150. Also to back into your assigned site, be wary of the locations of all the sewer drains... there is more than one (usually 3-4), and some are flat on the ground while others are raised 2-4" above grade... and some are 3" drains and some are 4" drains connectors.
Now, on to the Thousand Trails Verde Valley RV and Camping Resort in Cottonwood AZ. (May 17 - June 2). Our reservation was for May 19 - June 2nd, but given that we had some RX for Roxy coming to Verde Valley , which arrived sooner than expected we were able to get reservations for two days in advance , so we left Countryside sooner than expected, on Friday instead of Sunday. Roxy loved riding in the livingroom sofa, with her head on a pillow looking forward through the big windshield able to see the road and everything ahead.
See you in the next post at Verde Valley RV and Camping Resort in Cottonwood, May 17 - June 2, 2019.
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