Naval Aviation Facility, El Centro, CA

Palm Oasis RV Park & Resort. That’s its name and it’s out in the desert, away from just about everything. It has a community atmosphere because in the winter months the RV residents out number the base residents.

 

It’s not a place we ever planned to visiting. I had been there a couple of times when on active duty. Back then it was known as the National Parachute Test Range (NPTR) and mostly Navy attack squadrons from other bases around the country came there to practice bombing in the nearby bomb ranges. Later on it became a NAF when the Blue Angle flight demonstration squadron made it their winter home.

We stayed there for a couple of months because of the excessive rain fall and mud sliding in areas in southern CA we had planned on spending our winter months. It was also raining in the deserts near El Centro and a lot of people were leaving because the dune buggy riders had no place to ride and went elsewhere. We were very surprised when we called from San Diego and were told there were a couple of sites available for us in the overflow area. That particular area had full hook-up service with 30 amps and another 15 amp plug-in for extension cords.

Our site was located in an old paved parking lot and backed-up to a ball field. Across the street was the bowling alley, chow hall and a golf driving range. We could eat in the chow hall without reservations except on weekends and holidays. We got our mail from a general delivery box at a US post office about three miles outside the main gate.

 

It you cant find something to do on base there isn’t much else close by. We did find a nice 9 hold golf course about 10 miles away. After we had been there for about a week the Blue Angles showed-up and there were no more quiet days except on Sundays. We had dish TV and finding a nice clear signal was no problem at all.

The rain caught up with us and it rained so long and hard they had to rent huge trucks with vacuum hoses to get the water out of the parking lots around base. We drove over to Yuma and found people were also leaving there for other areas and we found a couple of side by side sites to spend another couple of months in.

Here are some pictures of our sites, the Blue’s flight line and from around base.

Naval Air Station Corpus Christi, TX

Home to Chief of Naval Air Training, Training Air Wing 4, the Corpus Christi Army Depot and other tenants, NAS Corpus Christi has supported pilot training and operations since 1941.




One time while roaming around in Texas we found ourselves all the way down in the western gulf coast corner of the state. It was early spring and we were very lucky to get a RV parking site at the Shields RV Park aboard the Naval Air Station. Not only did we get a site with a great view of the gulf waters it also had a very unique feature, a covered patio area. We spent a week there and was on the go every day from dawn till dusk. Every recreational enterprise was very conveniently located in the recreation facility or very close by. The golf course is just inside the main gate and the fishing pier is right in the RV Park.

The RV park is situated on a large parcel of land and the sites are quite large. Each section takes on a different look as you can see in some of the pictures.

You can click on any of the pictures to start a slid show and view them in a larger view.























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We had this long eared friend that visited us every day and ate clover from the field near our site.












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These piuctures are of the fishing pier. You can get bait at the MWR office/store and drive right up to the pier and park.

















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It’s just a short drive over the bridge to Padre Island where you can drive up and down the beach. We found some guys catching Red fish from the surf. They had a cooler full of beer and fish and were having fun.



















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To get more information on this RV park or any others around the country go to the web site in the reference provided below.

http://www.militarycampgrounds.us/forum

The FastEAgles
Cal & Linda

Admiral Baker Park

Admiral Baker Park is a very large USN Recreational complex located right in the mission valley downtown section of San Diego, CA. It’s close to interstate highways I-8 and I-15. It is a gated complex and is for the use of all active duty & retired military personnel and their dependents. Civilian DoD personnel from the surrounding area are also authorized usage.

The complex has two full sized golf courses, tennis courts, huge swimming pool, numerous picnic areas of all sizes and of course an RV park. The multi million dollar golf center has formal and informal dinning areas and a fully stocked golf equipment store. The golf driving range is situated about a half mile from either golf course and is an independently operated facility. All the roads are paved and that includes the RV park. If you’re headed into the San Diego area and are authorized use of this park you wont be disappointed.

When parking your RV in the RV park you wont have another RV parked behind you. The RV Park is designed in a semi-circle. All sites are back ins.

























One day after we had moved into our site and all situated a crack was found in a tree limb in a tree close to us and we had to move to a parking area while the limb was removed.
















Here we are moving back into our site after the tree limb removal.




The rig with the blue truck belongs to our traveling companions.


The FastEagles

Find all the Military Campgrounds here:
http://www.militarycampgrounds.us/forum

Fort Bliss - El Paso, TX

Some of the Military RV Parks/CGs we have stopped at on a regular basis have a first come first serve policy. Of all that we have stayed at the one at El Paso, TX (Fort Bliss) is the most modern. When wanting to stay there for a few days we try to get there in the very early afternoon. We start calling the office about 10 AM to check on departures - it’s almost always full - and keep calling every 30-45 min. Their policy is firm and they are not going to pencil anyone in. Once there and assigned to a space you can stay up to the limit allowed during the season you are there. The Park is off base and right across the street from military housing and the 27 hole golf complex. Fort Bliss is a large base and a great place to stop and stock up on needed items. Whenever traveling through El Paso we have been very luck to have been able to stay there. Over the years we have seen it expand into the great RV Park it is today with super modern facilities including a fully equipped workout building. A WiFi system with enough capacity to service everyone. A great new CATV system. You name it and they have it. Here are some pictures. We have also been very lucky in site assignment almost always being assigned to a corner site.

The pictures are from two different stops and at different times of the year. One whole year it rained everywhere we went, even El Paso.

Click on any picture to get a larger view.







































The first time we stopped at Fort Bliss we were traveling from W-E on I-10 and decided to go up and over the mountains using TX-375. The whole stretch of highway was made from red clay. All along the highway things are painted to match the road color. It’s a beautiful drive with large pull-out areas for stopping with a few having picnic tables and restrooms. It’s also a nice road to take if you want to miss the heavy traffic pattern in El Paso.





















The FastEagles

Naval Station, Mayport, FL

Whenever in the Jacksonville, FL area we always try to spend a week or two at the Pelican Roost RV Park. It’s located all the way out on the St. Johns River south jetties, next to the fire fighting school. The 18 hole golf course has a true links environment and fishing from the jetties is always productive no matter the time of year.

The only large sites are on the front row and very hard to schedule into without some far in advance planning. We have never had one. The park is always busy and has a nice lounge area for all the visitors.

Every thing that comes and goes on the water from Jacksonville goes by here. Lots of folks will spend their days setting out on the jetties taking pictures of the passing ships and boats of all sizes. The Naval Station “Mayport Basin” is just off the RV park’s entrance. It is currently being dredged to hold a new carrier. The John F. Kennedy CV-67 was the last one stationed here.

Here are a collection of pictures we have taken during our many stays at this RV park with it’s prime location.

This is the park office and a couple of street pictures.

You can click on any of the pictures to get a larger view.











This was the best site we ever got assigned to. It's on the third row and backed up to a ball field.




This series of pictures is of our worst site assignment. It's a FHU on the second row with just enough room for extending the slides. My son was visiting for a day of fishing and couldn’t get over just how close we were parked to our neighbors.









When it comes to site assignments all RVs are equal.



This view is of the first and second row sites.




If you're unlucky enough to be at the RV park during a North Easter just bring in your slides and hunker down






There are always people fishing from the jetties. The tanker was waiting on the tide and a pilot.





Nice picture of the JFK moored in the Mayport Basin. Sorry, I don't know the names of any of the other ships.











This smallish container carrier is headed for Blunt Island.




Just about every kind of vessel will pass by here sooner or later. This one is headed for downtown Jacksonville.











FastEagle