# I Don't Normally Go Out Of My Way To Complain But.....



## thefulminator (Aug 8, 2007)

I really want to to let everyone know just how bad this campground is. As my fourteen year old son put it, "this looks like event parking". I thought it was a tailgater that everyone forgot to leave.

When we bought our 250RS the dealer gave us a free year at Thousand Trails. I wanted to have one last trip for the year and decided to stay at their Birch Bay compound in Blaine Washington. I called in and made reservations for the Labor Day weekend. A late start combined with the Friday before Labor Day traffic caused us not to arrive until about 7:30pm. Being that the place is on a first come, first served basis I expected to not get a prime site but didn't expect what we found. It is a parking lot with hookups. I know that some people consider KOAs to be in that category but I think any KOA would be the lap of luxury compared to what we found.

All the sites in "phase one" are back in. No problem with that. The thing they don't tell you is that all sites are back to back with another trailer and that there is only one hookup pedestal for every four trailers. What it comes down to is that two out of every four trailers not only has their entry door open into the side of the next trailer but that all you hookups have to be run under your trailer to the pedestal which in on your door side. Those are the odd number sites. You only get a few feet on the door side of your trailer and the people in the site on your non-door side claim all the open area as their front yard. I even saw some sites where the occupants had temporarily fenced off the grassy area you were supposed to share to claim it all for themselves. I had looked at aerial views on google maps prior to making the reservation and you couldn't tell that this was the layout. Since our sewer valve is in front of our axles, I would have needed about thirty feet of sewer hose to reach the pedestal. There were only about ten odd number only sites available and of those about half a dozen the power was out of order. The area that may have been considered to be decent, "phase two", was completely full as I had anticipated.

After circling the park twice to be sure we hadn't missed a site that we could actually use, we stopped at the office and told them we would rather drive back home than stay there a night. Since we didn't pay for the reservation, they couldn't penalize us for leaving early. This had to be by far the most pathetic excuse for a campground I have ever seen and whoever designed it should be ashamed. After stopping for gas and some ice creme, we ended up back home around midnight.


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## Leedek (Nov 28, 2010)

The Labor Day weekend overcrowding is always the pits. Sorry your trip was so disappointing.









It reminds me of a trip the DW and I took a couple of years back. We wanted to travel the Washington Coast starting at Port Angeles, heading west. It was a scorcher with temps in the hi 90's up to 100 F. We stayed our first night in Forks, WA at a village RV park. It was fine, just hot. The Twilight Saga had Forks taking advantage of tourists, in a nice way. We decided to move our TT to La Push, WA out on the Indian Reservation. The weather went from 90 to mid 70's and breezy. We signed up for three nights and snuggled in for a cool stay. La Push is a beautiful area with the Pacific views of sea stacks and the small islands it was awe inspiring. We had our dinner and settled down for a cool night's sleep.

Unfortunately, the Indian Reservation has an almost non-existent police force. The RV park becomes the drug connection for every doper in NW Washington during the night. We had cars circling the TT all night. There were more comings and goings, door slammings, and loud talk then I'd ever heard anywhere. We packed up the next morning and I went to the reservation desk expecting a fight for my 2-day return. The native American behind the counter nodded with understanding when I spoke of the nighttime activities. She promptly gave me my money back and apologized. A beautiful place to visit during the day but not a family stop for the night.

Hey, we all have the stories but RVing is still the best way to see the country. We get to take some of our stuff, eat our own food, sleep in clean beds, and enjoy company of like-minded friends.







Lte's get on the road!


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## WACOUGAR (Dec 20, 2006)

We camp at Birch Bay State Park a lot (we were just there a few weeks ago). We've driven through that Thousand Trails because my parents have a membership and I get what you're saying. It is pretty pathetic. So sad because the La Conner Thousand Trails is very nice. Sorry you had to drive all the way up there just to turn back around. At least you got ice cream!!

Kelly


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