Wanted to take our new Keystone Springdale 179QBWE on a shakedown trip, prior to our 10 vacation to the Northern California coast. So, we went to Woodward Reservoir, 40 miles from home, to try it out. It's place we've driven past hundreds of times over the years. It's very popular, being so close to several large metropolitan area's, but after reading the reviews on Yelp, I had some concerns. But, our trip started midweek, and ended this morning, and it was a great shakedown trip.
We love our new trailer, queen bed up front, middle bath and our favorite part, the rear dinette with a wrap around view thru the picture windows. The entry side of th eRV was facing and literally on the street, but the back side was a little paradise, right on the water. We laid out the mat we bought for the awning, set out our chairs and table, beside a huge Mulberry tree, that gave us shade all day long. It was awesome. With hookups for power, water and sewer, we used the A/C, microwave, Keurig, stove and shower. Everything workled great, no problems, EXCEPT the rotary striker that would light the gas stove burners, but, we had matches for backup. It is a small RV, not a lot of room, but it has all we need for our weekend jaunts and week long vacation trips. I pull it with my work vehicle, a 2013 Ford E250 Super Duty extended cargo van, and I have TONS of room for all the things we need, and then some.
The camp sites were pretty quiet Wednesday thru Friday, the stiff breeze of the first 2 days laid down to a nice, cooling breeze for the remainder of the trip. With that breeze, our nice shady spot right on the water, there were no mosquitoes or flies. The temp was PERFECT, never changed out of short sleeves the entire trip.
Friday about midnight, the complexion of the campground changed. Our cul de sac filled up, and campsites were set up with accompanying loud music, too loud for 12pm to 2 am. Someone in an adjoining campsite, yelled "TURN IT DOWN", and they did! I didn't hear it, but that woke my wife up, lol. Saturday was loud, the late arrivals were a bit boisterous and was blasting the music again, but behind our unit it was fine. However, the Sheriff was called out and handled the situ, and it was good enough for the rest of the trip.
The sites with hookup, were 30 bucks a night. There is a boat launch, I drove out there with the fellow camping next ot us, his kids were out on his boat, it died, and they had to have the Sheriff patrol tow them back. Nice launch area, plenty wide, 2 docks, with a large open center, that seems to cater to the personnel water craft folks.
The RV sites, were a little rough, untrimmed dry grass all around the fire pit, and lots of foxtails and burrs. We didn't do a fire, or have dog, so neither of these things were an issue for us, but they could be for others.
So, the question is, would I go back. Yes, I would. Week days, but no weekends. We drove around and checked out different sites, but the view and shelter we had at our site would be tough to match.
Our view from the back.
