Campground List ~ Winter 2018-2019

64. That is the number of different campsites we experienced between October 14, 2018, and April 7, 2019. If you’re doing the math you’ll notice we moved on an average of every 2.8 days. When you consider we spent nearly two full months lazing in Los Barriles the numbers are too exhausting to calculate. A truly crazy busy last six months saw us traveling through eight states (two of them twice) and up and down Baja twice. It was also an amazing winter filled with friends both old and new, many places both old and new, and grand adventures. However, we are, needless to say, road weary by now.

Here is our annual, and this year exhaustive, list of where we stayed from the day we left Coeur d’Alene to our arrival at our new camp in the Sierra Nevada’s. Because of the number of stops I’m breaking this down into more than one blog post. We begin with the fall adventures from our departure in CDA to our arrival in Los Barriles.

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Finding Renewal in Mexico

Mexico is our safe place. That sweet spot we head to when we need to heal weary minds and hearts. When Jim’s sister passed away in 2003 we found solace in Mazatlan. When my mom passed away in 2005 we almost immediately grabbed Ron & Dario and headed to Puerto Vallarta. This fall, rather than take the planned drive around the USA, we knew that a couple of months renewing on the beaches of Baja was what was called for.

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Journeying Northwards~ Mexico & USA Campground List

I think I’ve lost track of how many such posts I’ve done. These past 27 months have found us in dozens and dozens of campgrounds across Mexico and the Western United States and feature everything from boondocking beach camps to $100/night RV parks.

We had planned on heading north via Arizona and Utah. Well, plans changed and Oregon was on the radar but we knew what we didn’t want to do was repeat the same route that we have traveled too many times over the last couple of years. By taking the border at Mexicali and heading down some back roads we effectively missed all of the dreaded San Diego/ LA/ San Francisco traffic. We also made a point of trying out some new spots along the way. Camp CDA research and all 🙂

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Camping Southward~ the Good, the Bad, the Expensive.

As we headed south towards Baja we knew we wanted to do some campground research along the way. Although we have camped on five continents, it never hurts to view other campgrounds with open eyes when planning improvements for Camp Coeur D’Alene.

With this in mind, we specifically chose to stay at some vastly different types of campgrounds to experience each end of the spectrum, checking out bathroom facilities, camp stores, and pricing options. While we didn’t garner any huge new ideas from what we were already thinking it sure was fun!

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Mexico Campground List Part Tres

We just can’t seem to leave Mexico! Yes, Lake Atitlan Guatemala was extraordinary. As in we are talking of possibly settling there at some point. However, Mexico drew us back north, not done with us yet!

As we worked our way back to Baja many of our campground choices are those we have already enjoyed but still listed along with a few new additions.

Lagos de Colon~

Stunning. After a long day climbing out of Lake Atitlan we endured a challenging border crossing and arrived at some of the most lovely water we had ever seen. Endless pools in varying shades of blue and amazing 40MX a night price tag made everything okay. Back in our beloved Mexico.

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Camping Baja

We spent 87 nights in Baja, camping at 19 different campgrounds (4 of them multiple times) 87 nights. Nearly 3 months. Here is a list of where we stayed so match up with the stories of our time that have been flowing as we traveled. I’m working on a follow-up blog but the writing is coming slowly. Baja, although wonderful, took a toll on us in more ways than one.

Estero Beach RV Park ~ Ensenada, BC

We had stopped at Clam Beach en-route and planned to stay, but after driving on the toll road 40minutes into Ensenada and with darkness approaching, we opted for the closer option of Estero Beach. Pricey at $40 night (negotiated down), we were irritated at paying so much, and yet in our two nights there we recovered from our traumatic border crossing, spent a couple of hours streaming Netflix, and during a break in the storm on day two dipped in the steaming hot tub. Just what we needed. Close to downtown, it offers nice facilities, laundromat, pool, hot tub, beach walk, and even a museum. We ended up staying here again for our final night in Baja before crossing the border.

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