April 29 - May 3: Colorado River Adventure - Emerald Cove

From Joshua Tree NP, we headed to the Colorado River near Parker, to stay at Emerald Cove. This was our first use of the Coast to Coast membership ($15/nt to stay at this associated resort), and though the park had a great location, we were disappointed to be treated as 3rd class citizens. Only CRA members could stay on the waterfront; Coast to Coast members were confined to the 4th row back, in what was essentially a big gravel parking lot. The waterfront was nice and our deck would have been quite comfortable there, but periodically a big wind would turn the beach into a swirling vortex of sand and dirt. The pools and hot tubs were divided by a bar / restaurant which ran down the middle, and one pool / hot tub was shaded while the other was sunny; it was a very nice setup, and and the service was friendly. The park had two golf courses (one mini, one regular size) and we had fun playing miniature golf on their excellent and very well-maintained little course. They had WIFI but it did not work in our RV; had to go up to the clubhouse.

One day we took our little Zodiak up the river towards Parker Dam, but only made it about 2 miles upstream and that poor little electric motor was done in (too much current and wind to fight). So we ended up driving up to the dam the next day. Parker dam is deepest dam in the world; 3/4 of the dam is below the original riverbed.

It was great timing to be there, as we were able to meet up with a good friend from Capital, Michelle, who just happened to be in the park right next door to us! We had dinner with Michelle one evening, and then she was gracious enough to invite us out on their boat. So we had a great time cruising the Parker Strip in their Bayliner with Michelle and her brother Jerry. We cruised the entire strip and stopped for lunch at Roadrunners (good food, cheap).