Downstream Casino RV Stop

UPDATE 2023 - They now charge $30 if you do not get a casino card and they added another area which is away from all the semis but unfortunately we didn’t see it until we were parked.

9/21/2008

Not part of the plan but we were almost to our planned stop in Miami, Oklahoma when we seen Downstream Casino and decided to stop. We have water and electric…a dump station…and they do not charge anything. We are finding that is the case with many of the Casino RV Parks in Oklahoma and we are taking advantage of it along our route. They also have an excellent Buffet…by getting a Play Card you get $2 off…we were also informed to do the lunch instead of dinner since the price is half as much but is just as good…for under $20 we had a great refreshing, very tasty lunch.

We did mostly Interstate driving again and will continue to do it almost all the way into Phoenix…we are getting much better gas mileage which is a great factor…gas is actually going down as we head West…not usually the case but we hope this trend continues. Gas prices were as low as $3.36 for unleaded and $3.70 for diesel…we have not seen those prices since way before beginning this journey.

We spent Sunday watching NASCAR...congrats to Greg Biffle and recuperating from our travels…plan to get back on the road again on Monday…heading for a Camping World since our levelers just decided to stop working…hopefully it will be a quick fix. It is so funny how you become accustomed to certain things. When we first got our rig, our levelers did not work and it stayed that way for quite a few months before we finally had them looked at and it ended up being a $4 part. Now, a day without them is an inconvenience we do not want to live with for more than a few days…funny how our attitudes change with the circumstances.

This got me thinking about how things seem to change in our lives…when in reality nothing changed but our attitudes. Having a bad day? Change it by changing your attitude…begin again…not by changing the circumstance but by changing how you feel about it…nobody can do it but yourself. We are choosing this more often than ever…yes…we have come a long way!

Oasis RV Resort

2715 Arnot Road

Amarillo, Texas 79124

888-789-9697

9/2015, 9/2018, 4/2023

2023 UPDATE - We paid $71.00 for the same site as we had in 2015, that was a huge rate hike! Pool & spa were closed until Memorial weekend. Laundry room took some sort of app needed to do a load which was not convenient for us so we chose not to do ours.

2018 UPDATE - We paid $36.90 for the same site as we had in 2015.

We paid $32.85 using our Good Sam 10% discount for a pull through level concrete slab site with 50/30 electric, water, sewer, cable and WiFi.

Well-manicured landscaping and sites.

There were several restrooms and laundry areas throughout the park and all were kept clean.

The pool and spa was magnificent...

We enjoyed our stay and will definitely stay whenever we are passing through again and would highly recommend.

The only bad thing we noticed was the stench from the nearby cows, but hopefully the wind will be blowing the opposite way as it was on this visit.

For more photos, check out our Google + Web Albums.

Isleta Lakes & RV Park

4051 Highway 47 SE

Albuquerque, NM 87105

505-224-8102

11/2017, 5/2019, 4/2023

2023 UPDATE - They added a new area with water, electric & sewer on flat concrete slabs. We paid $53 a night and they had a stay 2 night, 3rd night free special and due to the wind conditions, we chose to take advantage of the deal.

For some reason during our years of full time traveling, we have only traveled I-25 once at the very beginning but after this time we plan to do it more often and were happy that we chose this direction at this time.

About 13 miles south of Albuquerque is Isleta Resort and Casino that also has a RV Park with free shuttle service.

We paid $33.39 using our Good Sam 10% discount for a water, electric, sewer site on fairly flat gravel with a picnic table and grill and included WiFi and DirecTV.

Due to the time of year we were there the place was isolated, but would probably be busy during prime times.

They offer a 24 hour free shuttle to the casino and we had some fun playing the many slots they have and won a nice jackpot. They have several eateries at the casino and a gas station nearby.

The next time passing through we will stay here again and do recommend it. 

Dream Catcher RV Park
4400 East Pine Street

Deming, NM  88030

575-544-4004

2/2007, 2/2014, 4/2017, 11/2018, 4/2023

2023 Update - We paid $23.81 for the same site using our Escapees Membership.

2018 Update - We paid $22.65 for the same site using our Escapees Membership.

2017 Update - We paid $23.70 for the same site without using our Escapees Membership. We drove through a few others in the area and ended up coming back to this park because the others were just too run down and filled with mostly permanent residents, barking dogs and just looking shabby.

We paid $20.25 using our Escapees Membership for a flat, gravel pull through site with water, electric and sewer.  Our Verizon phones and MiFi had great signal and worked great.

Even though the park was very empty, they still had plenty of activities going on and they maintained the area well.

The restrooms and laundry room were clean.

No other frills to speak about, no pool or spa but we were informed that there is a gate to get to the Quality Inn next door and they allow us to use their pool and spa which we did not partake of but it was available if we chose to use them.

Even though it was located close to the highway the noise was minimum.

We would recommend it to others as they do allow non-members to stay overnight and if ever in the area again we would stay here.

Butterfield RV Resort

251 S. Ocotillo Avenue

Benson, AZ 85602

520-586-4400

April 2023

 

We paid $33.47 per night using our 50% off Passport America Membership for a water, 30/50amp electric, sewer on a level, very spacious corner site on gravel with a picnic table.

We enjoyed the pool and hot tub.

Quiet area except the sound of the trains which do not bother us at all. It’s a nice park with good workers but the price without our 50% off would have been way too high. To be fair, at this point this has begun to be the going rate, but doesn’t mean that all resorts have to go that high.

 

We would recommend this resort and we would stay here again using our 50% off but if they stop taking it then we will go down the street to some of our other membership parks at a better deal.

 

 

Where Did The Winter Go…Back On The Road Again!

 Café busyness never really picked up except for the events, all of them were well over 200 people, cooking and serving them in the non-catering kitchen was challenging. Our last Café day was supposed to be March 24 but AGAIN a 911 call for a smell of gas was called in from the residents and as usual the drama of what might have been an “explosive event that would have killed hundreds was diverted”, so we chose not to relight the pilots and just shutdown the Cafe a day earlier than scheduled.

The weather was not great this year either, too many days of big time wind, wet days, and temperatures have been frigid too often. Our allergies went wacky sometime in January with us both having severe sneezing, wheezing and coughing…NO fever or body aches but this along with slow days at the Café has worn us out. Antihistamines just dried us out so the coughing became dry so we decided to just go natural as much as possible.

 

Our vacation began earlier than planned and we were ready. We had wanted to attend a race at the Cocopah Speedway while we were here but just never got around to it, but that all changed with a text. We were invited to come and hangout in the pits, and that’s exactly what we did. Unfortunately, my eye had a huge allergy attack even before we arrived and just got worse with all the dust from the cars so we didn’t stay for the final races. We were able to connect with Chrissy and her boyfriend who was racing in the Mini Late Models, he took 2^ndplace. Life is strange and weird at times and this moment was no exception, not sure how we will handle it but we will figure it out.

We had a rough start to our traveling with major issues but nothing that thousands of dollars didn’t fix. We planned to leave Sun Vista and get new tires on the trailer because the tires though we were told they were new with under 1,000 miles on them, unfortunately they were China Bombs. While they were changing the tires at Discount Tires where we get all of our tires from, they noticed major wheel bearings damage on the trailer. They didn’t do that type of repair so we called around and finally were able to get an appointment the next morning at Chassis Dynamics. Seven hours and thousands of dollars later they replaced the Shackles, Equalizers, Bushings, Bearings, Seals and aligned the axles.

Before we left, we moved to Yuma Lakes for a few days to unwind and enjoyed a relaxing day in the hot tub and pool and a night of Bingo, both of us yelled BINGO, but walked away with only a few dollars in winnings.

We left Yuma on April Fool’s Day heading to Tucson for other work on the trailer that needs fixing…Hole in the shower skylight, slides maintenance since they are jumping, electric awning adjustment and fabric…and just a few other minor issues. The great deal we got on the trailer is looking lesser and lesser every day! 

The good news is we are traveling once again, all the way to Upper New York for the summer. We are also finding the issues before any of them leave us stranded somewhere, especially the tire situation which could have been very dangerous to us. We purchase a TPMS for the trailer tires but we are having issues getting it setup correctly. We have a few weeks here to iron out all the little things since we have 2600 miles ahead of us and we want to prevent as much as possible.

As usual there are inconveniences in our lives, a little more than we like but we are so blessed that we are able to take care of it before they become tragic. Jerry didn’t avoid a mishap with a bungee cord that snapped at him, but again it most certainly could have been so much worse. I am taking credit for this, bragging that he got mouthy with me…LOL! 

Yuma Lakes RV Resort
6275 S Avenue 8 ½ E

Yuma, AZ 85365

928-726-5860

2012, 2018, 2019, 2023

2023 UPDATE - They are still accepting C2C but are charging an additional $3 per night at checkin as a resort fee. We enjoyed the hot tub and pool this visit and it was well maintained.

2019 UPDATE - They are still accepting Coast to Coast Membership and now that we have MayB it was nice staying way out in the middle of nowhere.

This is a Colorado River Adventures park which is a membership park that we used our Coast to Coast membership. We paid $10 with no additional charges for a water, electric, sewer, back-in, level, gravel site. Our Verizon MiFi does not work the best, but we muddle through.


We were greeted very nicely, even though it was early in the morning of our check in day, not a problem they escorted us to our site. Included with their brochure, they gave us a book that had information about the area and coupons from local area establishments to use during our stay, very welcoming.

They have all sorts of activities throughout the resort, shuffleboard, horseshoes, Bingo, pool and spa, and so much more.


There is a lake for fishing, but we were told we would need an Arizona Fishing License to partake. They even have a restaurant open all week long that serves some pretty good choices at a great price.


They have several laundry facilities and the one we were closest to was small, only a half a dozen washer and dryers and each time we came by there were people waiting. Thank goodness we were able to wait and do it at our next location.

The resort is old, but they maintain it well, several restrooms and showers were located throughout the resort, that were kept clean. If we are ever in the area again we would most certainly stay here.


Back when we were in our stationary lifestyle our home was decorated in the southwestern motif and since we had our own tile installation business, my favorite thing to do with tile was and still is mosaic. We created so many items with this design and for me it was like therapy and knowing just how time consuming it can be, it is appreciated when we see other creations. Here are just a few of the southwestern and other artwork that you will find throughout the resort.