We are at the A/OK RV park in Green River, Utah (map).
You might notice that AOK is KOA backwards, and, indeed, this park was once a KOA, with the unmistakable A-frame office architecture and the standard KOA pool, which here has been turned into a koi pond with murky water, vaguely reminiscent of a scene from Y tu mamá también.
This is an odd choice for us, and the park is not even listed in any of our directories. It is more or less across the street from Green River State Park, which was our intended destination. While the state park is very lovely, it was 96° when we arrived yesterday at 5pm or so, and they have no hookups. Faced with paying $16 for the night, yet still having to run the generator for five or six hours to keep the air conditioning on, we opted instead to cross the street and get a 30-amp hookup for $20.
There is also a newer KOA in town, along with one or two other commercial parks, with rates probably closer to $40. This place was fine -- it's a bit off the main road (likely one of the reasons KOA abandoned it), and we were one of only three transient rigs here last night. There are also perhaps half a dozen long-term rentals, in a park designed for a hundred or so spaces. It was quiet and dark, a stark contrast from the KOA in Salt Lake, which was full to capacity every night, with lots of traffic at all hours, a childrens' park atmosphere ever-present at the pool, and enough street lighting to force us to close the windows if we wanted it dark enough to sleep.
Speaking of which, we left that KOA yesterday at the noon check-out time. Our conference ended Sunday evening, and we had planned to leave Monday, but when we learned that good friends from the SF bay area would be passing through and staying downtown Monday, we extended by one night so we could meet them for dinner, thus "bracketing" our Salt Lake stay with visits from friends.
The Salt Lake KOA gave us that final night gratis, after I complained about my experience in the pool on Wednesday. At the risk of turning your stomach, let's just say that someone defecated in the pool and somehow I ended up in the water before the pool got cleaned and shock-treated (although, IMO, they really should have drained it completely to disinfect it). Suffice it to say I went directly to the shower to, umm, disinfect in a scene reminiscent of Silkwood (apparently my day for movie metaphors). We opted to skip any further use of the pool for the remainder of our stay -- a shame, really, in 90+ temperatures.
Photo by Groovnick
We go on the on-call list with the Red Cross for hurricane season today, and so we decided to start moving generally southeast, sending us further into the oven. We opted to come down US-6 and perhaps spend a little time in Canyonlands and/or Arches national parks, which is the direction we will head in a few minutes. It's going to push 100° today, so I foresee some generator time this afternoon.
Canyonlands and Arches are both beautiful places to visit. They're going to be pretty brutal this time of year as far as temperature goes though. You might want to consider concentrating on some of the higher altitude areas in the region for at least a bit of temperature relief. The Island in the Sky district of Canyonlands and Dead Horse Point State Park are both about 1000 feet higher than Arches or the Needles District of Canyonlands. Another nice option in the area is the Canyon Rims Recreation Area, east of Canyonlands on BLM land. This is about the same altitude as Island in the Sky and has a couple of nice campgrounds and some really good views of the Colorado River and Canyonlands from the east.
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ReplyDeleteWe'll be in Camp Verde (Cliff Castle Casino)and/or Clay Spring, AZ on the 6th and 7th. We're visiting a camphost friend at a park in Clay Springs.
After that we're heading for some North Rim boondocking.
If you'll be in the area, let us know. That little puppy you saw at Box Canyon a few weeks ago is now 70 lbs!
Pat and Nancy.
Well that pretty much describes all KOAs, a real piece of crap. Unfortunately we are stuck in one in Fort Collins till we close escrow (hopefully) on a nearby property. So sorry you had that awful experience! Eeew! Thanks, I'll always remember to look at the water before I jump in here.
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