Thousand Trails San Benito

We stayed at Thousand Trails San Benito in Paicines, California. (Campground Reviews listing.)

Our second stay here. Our first stay was our very first experience of a Thousand Trails park. Not a super great experience, but not bad enough to put us off TT. (Which we have some misgivings about, but it has been mostly worthwhile.)

This time, the campground was in the midst of a much-needed major improvements to their electrical system, with new 50/30/20 amp pedestals on all of the sites. At the time we stayed, only about the third of the park was open.

Dates:

  • Check in: 2025-10-20
  • Check out: 2025-10-31
  • 11 nights

Weather:

  • Mostly sunny
  • High temps 65-82°F, lows 48-54°F
  • Little wind, gusts to 17 MPH

Noise:

  • No road noise
  • No train horn noise
  • Little neighbor noise

Site:

  • #C-010, back-in, gravel
  • Needed to disconnect toad, parked beside coach
  • Somewhat level site; a little high on passenger side; used hydraulic leveling
  • Gravel driveway about 60 feet long by 12 feet wide
  • 75-95 feet to neighbor on passenger side
  • 32 feet to neighbor on driver side
  • Just grass between sites
  • Picnic table
  • Fire pit
  • Tall trees
  • Somewhat clean site
  • Elevation 720 feet, front facing north/east/south/west

Utilities:

  • 50 amp power, conveniently located
  • 60 PSI water, conveniently located
  • Good sewer connection, conveniently located (1 10-foot pipe needed)

Internet (in usage priority order):

  • Starlink: 76-108 Mbps down, 22-44 Mbps up, 30 ms ping
  • RoamLink: 50 Mbps down, 3-5 Mbps up, 125 ms ping (RoamLink uses whichever is best of AT&T, Verizon, and T-Mobile)
  • AT&T: 101-145 Mbps down, 1-5 Mbps up, 70 ms ping (I have AT&T on my iPhone)
  • Campground Wi-Fi: none

Amenities:

  • Garbage dumpsters
  • Pool

Our review on Campground Reviews is forthcoming.

Campground map; much of the campground was being renovated at the time of our stay:

Map

An interactive map:

Our site:

Our site

Our site

Our site

Our site

The tree next to our site:

Tree

During our stay the electricians needed to make some modifications to the pedestal; replacing one of the breakers:

Electrical pedistal

And installing a ground rod:

Electrical pedistal

Electrical pedistal

Can’t get packages at the campground, so we used Amazon lockers in Hollister (30 minutes away):

Amazon lockers

And the nearby post office in Paicines (9 minutes away):

Post office

Pool (and ex-hot tub):

Pool

While there, I added a Pokémon Pokéstop at the playground:

Pokémon Pokéstop

Other sites:

Other sites

Other sites

Other sites

Other sites

Other sites

New big solar array over storage area:

New big solar array over storage area

A big stump with a bird box:

Stump with bird box

Lots of gnomes around the place:

Lots of gnomes around the place

Cat:

Feral cat

Deer:

Deer

Birb:

Birb

A mostly peaceful campground. We’d be happy to stay here again.

Travel from Red Bluff to Paicines, California

We drove our coach 297 miles, about six hours of driving, from Red Bluff to Paicines, California.

We had originally planned to do this in two steps, since we like to aim for about three hours of driving per day. But at our first rest stop we decided we’d prefer to have a single longer drive, since it was mostly on I-5, so arranged to arrive earlier and cancel our original stop for that night.

Here’s a map showing our route, heading south:

Map

An interactive map, with potential stops pinned:

Entering I-5 South:

Entering I-5 South

Hey, hay!

Hey, hay!

Rice field:

Rice field

Our coach on traffic cams:

Our coach on a traffic cam

Our coach on a traffic cam

Swimming pool:

Swimming pool

Swimming pool

Rest area:

Rest area

Woodland bridge:

Woodland bridge

Sacramento River:

Sacramento River

Sacramento:

Sacramento

Paladin touching my foot:

Paladin touching my foot

Aquaduct:

Aquaduct

Fuel stop:

Fuel stop

Fuel stop

Interesting pea soup restaurant:

Interesting pea soup restaurant

San Luis Reservoir:

San Luis Reservoir

Exit to Hollister:

Exit to Hollister

School bus:

School bus

A trailer that didn’t disconnect the water hose and electrical cable; not a great way to travel:

Trailer didn't disconnect water hose and electrical cable

Road to Thousand Trails:

Road to Thousand Trails

Thousand Trails San Benito:

Thousand Trails San Benito

Narrow bridge:

Narrow bridge

Our site:

Our site

Red Bluff KOA Journey

We stayed at Red Bluff KOA Journey in Red Bluff, California. (Campground Reviews listing.)

Our second stay here. One of the nicest KOAs, though a pity about the location near a noisy freeway and train track. We enjoyed walking across the road to a Shari’s for dinner.

Dates:

  • Check in: 2025-10-19
  • Check out: 2025-10-20
  • 1 night

Weather:

  • Sunny
  • High temp 78°F, low 52°F
  • Some wind, gusts to 22 MPH

Noise:

  • Nearby freeway noise
  • Occasional train horn noise
  • Little neighbor noise (some dogs)

Site:

  • #114, pull-through, concrete
  • Didn’t need to disconnect toad, and didn’t, since only one night
  • Level site; used hydraulic leveling, since on concrete
  • Concrete driveway about 63 feet long by 15 feet wide
  • 13 feet to neighbor on passenger side
  • 0-23 feet to road on driver side
  • Picnic table
  • No fire pit
  • Some trees
  • Clean site
  • Elevation 280 feet, front facing west

Utilities:

  • 50 amp power, conveniently located
  • 70 PSI water, conveniently located
  • Didn’t connect sewer

Internet (in usage priority order):

  • Starlink: 80-134 Mbps down, 24-30 Mbps up, 30 ms ping
  • RoamLink: 44 Mbps down, 14 Mbps up, 145 ms ping (RoamLink uses whichever is best of AT&T, Verizon, and T-Mobile)
  • AT&T: 340-360 Mbps down, 3 Mbps up, 40 ms ping (I have AT&T on my iPhone)
  • Campground Wi-Fi: not used

Amenities:

  • Garbage pickup from site
  • Pool

See our previous review on Campground Reviews.

Campground map:

Map

An interactive map:

Our site:

Our site

Our site

Our site

Our site

Other sites:

Other sites

Other sites

Other sites

Other sites

See our first visit for more photos. We’d be happy to stay here again.

Travel from Sutherlin, Oregon to Red Bluff, California

We drove our coach 285 miles, about six hours of driving, from Sutherlin, Oregon to Red Bluff, California.

A long drive, but all on I-5, so pretty easy and familiar.

Here’s a map showing our route, heading south:

Route

An interactive map, with potential stops pinned:

I-5 South:

I-5 South

Rainy:

Rainy

“Slow Down”:

Slow Down

Misty mountains:

Misty mountains

Examples of various solutions for transporting a side-by-side — motorhome towing, toy hauler, and truck camper towing:

Examples of various solutions for transporting a side-by-side

Rest area:

Rest area

Crossover intersection:

Crossover intersection

Fuel stop:

Fuel stop

Me taking a photo of Jenn taking a photo of Paladin:

Jenn taking a photo of Paladin

Jenn’s photo:

Jenn's photo

Southern Oregon hills:

Southern Oregon hills

Southern Oregon hills

Ashland:

Ashland

Southern Oregon hills

“Siskiyou Mountain Summit, elevation 4310 feet, highest elevation on I-5”:

Siskiyou Mountain Summit, elevation 4310 feet, highest elevation on I-5

Hills

“Oregon Thanks You, Come Back Soon”:

Oregon Thanks You, Come Back Soon

“Welcome to California”:

Welcome to California

Agricultural Inspection Station:

Agricultural Inspection Station

Mount Shasta:

Mount Shasta

Mount Shasta

Junk cars in a rest area:

Junk cars in a rest area

Shasta Lake:

Shasta Lake

Shasta Lake

KOA:

KOA

Our site:

Our site

Happy Holidays!

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!

We visited Disneyland for our pre-Christmas holiday lights this year. The blog post about that visit won’t be published until March, but here’s a seasonal sneak peek:

Disneyland

Jenn and David at Disneyland

It's a Small World

Christmas tree

Sutherlin/Umpqua Valley KOA Holiday

We stayed at Sutherlin/Umpqua Valley KOA Holiday in Sutherlin, Oregon. (Campground Reviews listing.)

A KOA in an old drive-in movie theater, which still shows movies on the projection screen, and provided a viewing area with chairs and fire pits. The movie sound is played out loud, and can be tuned on a radio station for people who want to watch from inside their RV (for the sites that have a view of the screen, as ours did).

Dates:

  • Check in: 2025-10-17
  • Check out: 2025-10-19
  • 2 nights

Weather:

  • Partly sunny
  • High temps 62-70°F, lows 45-47°F
  • Little wind, gusts to 13 MPH

Noise:

  • Little road noise
  • No train horn noise
  • Little neighbor noise
  • Movie noise in evening

Site:

  • #86, pull-through, gravel
  • Didn’t need to disconnect toad, parked behind coach
  • Mostly level site; a little high on passenger side; used hydraulic leveling
  • Gravel driveway about 55 feet long by 12 feet wide
  • 12 feet to neighbors on both sides
  • Fence between sites
  • Patio table and chairs
  • Bench seat
  • Propane fire pit
  • A tall tree
  • Clean site
  • Elevation 540 feet, front facing north

Utilities:

  • 50 amp power, conveniently located
  • 40 PSI water, conveniently located
  • Loose sewer connection, conveniently located (1 10-foot pipe needed)

Internet (in usage priority order):

  • RoamLink: 40-52 Mbps down, 6 Mbps up, 140 ms ping (RoamLink uses whichever is best of AT&T, Verizon, and T-Mobile)
  • AT&T: 60-260 Mbps down, 14-16 Mbps up, 40 ms ping (I have AT&T on my iPhone)
  • Campground Wi-Fi: not measured
  • Starlink: not used

Amenities:

  • Garbage dumpsters
  • Movie screen

Our review on Campground Reviews is forthcoming.

Campground map:

Map

An interactive map:

Our site:

Our site

Hey look, the driver-side slide out for the first time in four months!

Our site

Our site

Our site

A nice fenced patio:

Patio

Convenient utilities:

Utilities

Movie screen, viewed from our site:

Movie screen, viewed from our site

Movie screen, viewed from our site

Movie screen, viewed from our site

Movie screen, viewed from our site

Other sites:

Other sites

Other sites

Other sites

Other sites

Other sites

The movies were a bit noisy, but over before quiet time, and a fun novelty. We’d be happy to stay here again.

Travel from Eugene to Sutherlin, Oregon

We drove our coach just 68 miles, about one hour of driving, from Eugene to Sutherlin, Oregon.

Here’s a map showing our route, heading south:

Route map

An interactive map, with potential stops pinned:

Leaving Oregon Motorcoach Center:

Oregon Motorcoach Center

Joining I-5 South:

I-5 South

I-5

A nasty parallel-parking rest area with no real space for us:

Rest area

Trees starting to turn:

Trees starting to turn

Arriving at a KOA:

Arriving at KOA

Check in:

Check in

Drive-in movie screen:

Drive-in movie screen

Our site:

Our site