We had been researching locations in the Lassen area for September and quickly made some phone calls and found one site that had two nights available - Hat Creek Hereford Campground. The reviews were good and we set out on Wednesday 7/18, during very hot weather (about 105 on the way up). It was a good test of our rig's capabilities driving up a mountain in very hot conditions.
We arrived at the campground around 5:15pm, after a 3.5 hour drive. When we checked in, the attendant stated she only had two left and checked us in. I walked back to the rig and told Holly "well, this will be an adventure". While we are relatively new at the RV experience, we have done enough to have some sort of expectation. First of which is a pad (either paved or gravel) perhaps with a little grass area or picnic table or something. Not this time. Our site was just off the main entrance, near the office and we had to parallel park to get to our hookups. We had a little area just outside our RV on which we could setup our chairs, etc.
So - we settled in, hooked up, and started prepping for dinner. It was about 95 degrees outside. We started having a power problem immediately. We had the A/C running (obviously), but when Holly tried to use the microwave our power would cut out for a few seconds. Then turn back on. We managed to get dinner done by waiting during the power interruptions. I walked over to the office which had the "closed" sign but saw the attendant who waived me in the unlocked door. I asked if they were having power issues. She said, "not that I know of...I know that we are full and sometimes you can't run the A/C and the microwave at the same time". Fortunately, I purchased and use a power surge protector on my rig. It is likely that it is the surge protector that was cutting off the power when there was a problem.
As we settled in for the night, the A/C continued to have interruptions. Finally, it cooled down enough outside to shut off the A/C and use the vent windows and the house fan.
The property was nice. There was a lake area, a grassy area for volleyball, etc. There were many families with multiple generations fishing, swimming, etc. Everyone seemed to have a good time. But - with the location of our spot and the power issues, we left in the morning (even though we were paid for 2 nights) and went looking for something else.
We had been researching another place in the Burney area (Burney Falls Trailer Resort). We also wanted to hike to Burney Falls or some other hiking trail in that area. We found a trail near Baum lake, but decided against it as the trail didn't seem well maintained and full of stickers and fox tails.
So - we headed to look at the RV Resort. As we pulled in, it was unclear where the office was. It was 11am. The obvious choice was a house at the entrance, but there was no signage. I did see some brochures sitting outside so I tried the door. A nice lady met me. The office was her house. No counter, no business setup. Just her living room. I asked if she had a spot for the night. She checked and found that she did. She went to her kitchen to get her cell phone to setup the Square device to take our payment. After I paid the $35 for the night, she handed me a cut square of paper on which I filled in my information. She gave me another cut piece of paper with the WiFi password.
I left the office and drove around to see the location. We didn't get a good vibe about the place. There were obvious long-term residents (which isn't a problem for us normally). But the area didn't seem well maintained and there was literally no where to walk our dogs or hike. We would have been relegated to another night of just staying in the RV to avoid the heat.
Holly had been reading about another resort called Lassen RV Resort. We called to see if they had a spot, they did. So we kept driving (another 30 minutes) into the wilderness near the Lassen National Park. We turned off the main highway and drove another few miles until we found this very remote Resort. We were impressed right away. The gravel roads were well maintained, there was very good signage. I checked in, and the attendant was very helpful. He then escorted us (via golf cart) to our spot. We had full hookups with the closest occupied spot a good 50+ yards away. We were sold.
We made camp and hooked up. The power was perfect, water pressure great, and the area was remote and quiet. They had WiFi, but only near the clubhouse (which was fine - we were disconnected but could check in whenever we wanted). After lunch and a little nap, we took the dogs for a hike around the vast property. After dinner and a movie we settled in for the night. Very happy with this place!
The next morning we made the 4 hours drive home before it got too hot!
Take away's from this trip: We need a smaller frying pay (probably 8"). Our new "movie" setup worked fabulously. We now have access to all of our movie library on the road. While we like that we have a fold-up bed in the back (queen), we will probably keep it down and made for most of our trips (the front full-size will be put up every day). While we have blinds for the cab windows, we will order a custom cover for the windows on the outside to help with heat/cold in the cab area. We learned that we can access our back storage from under the seats in the back (surprise! I actually complained about no access to the manufacturer and dumb me didn't know I had access). This will change how we store our linens.
