Canals of California

Tall trees at Wilderness Lakes Thousand Trails RV park in Menifee, California.

It's time I told you about one of the RV parks we stay in a couple times per year in California. I like it here, not for a long stay, but it's fun to stay as we do. It's called Wilderness Lakes Thousand Trails Resort. That's a big name for a big place. It's like a human city here. There are always lots of humans and dogs here. Dad says there are over 500 sites and its full most of the time. Dad likes it because he can stay for no money using something he calls an ROD card. I wish I had one of those if it can get stuff like this for free!

It's fun to explore around the RV park in the mornings on our walk.

Canals are rivers that don't move and they have a lot of canals here with plenty of fish in them (the cat looking fish!)

OK, it's still just a place for RVers to park their RVs and sleep and eat, but its got a lot of extras for me. It has canals all over the place. Canals are little rivers of water that don't move. I don't get in them to swim (Dad says they are too dirty for dogs and humans), but they have paths along them and funny looking birds that float in them (Dads says there are Mallard ducks, geese, coots, herons, and many more.) Dad says that Florida (a place many thousands of dog paces from here) and Italy (a place on the other side of the world) have canals that are famous too, but there aren't too many in California, so this is special. Some of the humans look for fish in the canals with long strings and poles. I saw a couple fish that they found (they look like ugly slimy cats.) Sometimes I discover the head of one that a human has cut off as I sniff along the banks. Its not an especially inviting smell, but it is an interesting one.


Many of the canals here have trails that follow around them and that allows us to walk further than we would in a normal RV park as we wind around the canals. There aren't a Thousand Trails here, (so I don't know why they call it so!), but there are a lot of places that we can walk. Outside the park there are large empty places to walk and a pond with lots of birds. Every morning and sometimes in the afternoon, Dad or Mom walk me a mile or two in these empty places. I get to go without my leash. By the p-mail I smell, lots of other dogs do the same. I've seen rabbits and squirrels and even coyotes in the field. I guess that's the Wilderness part they mention in the RV Parks name.

They grow grass for cows to eat across the street. I like to walk there (when this human machine isn't collecting cow food.)

Across the street, in front of the RV Park is a large field that humans grow stuff to feed cows. We walk along the field too. I like to roam in the tall grass and smell what's been there. Yesterday we saw a coyote come out of the grass and run away from us. (I wanted to chase it, but Dad made me sit and watch!) There are mountains in the not too far distance and Dad likes to watch the sunrise over them in the mornings.

Here I'm walking along a trail across from the RV park next to the cow food field.

Another thing I like about this park are the strong smells. There is a cow farm next door (Dad says it is a dairy where they get milk from the cows), and next to that is a big chicken farm where they get eggs from the chickens. (I'm glad they don't have dog farms, though I'm not sure what we could offer humans. Humans already get a good supply of dog poop without having to farm it!) When the winds blows from that direction the smells here are so sweet, but the wind changes direction enough that you don't always smell it. When it gets hot outside and the winds blow at me, the smells are even sweeter. Mom and Dad don't share my excitement about the smells however.

This place is full of dogs. Small ones, large ones, noisy ones, and even cute ones. Every time I walk I meet a few dogs. We sniff and exchange our smells in the hope that we will meet again and recognize each other at some other park. When I nap outside the RV I often introduce myself to all the dogs that walk by me that I haven't met before, or the ones that I think are especially cute.

Mallard ducks live here and make a lot of noise along with the Geese.

One thing I must mention is the noisy geese and ducks that live here. They sleep and play in the canal right outside our RV next to where I nap. (Not too close, but close enough!). All day and all night they are honking (that's a geese's attempt to bark like a dog and a poor imitation at that!) I can't understand geese language, but I'm sure it's nothing as important as it sounds. I even get wakened at night with loud honking from the geese.

Coots (or Mud Hens as Mom calls them) are waiting for one of my dog treats to be thrown to them. Dad shouldn't waste my treats!

When Dad and I get ready for a walk sometimes the little Coots (or Mud Hens as Mom calls them) all gather around the back of our RV (it's at the canals edge) and beg for food. It's funny because a coot is black and they have a white beak, so often at night all we see are about 50 white beaks all bobbing in the canal water begging for food. Sometimes Dad throws a small piece of my dog treat to them and they scramble fighting to get a piece of it. I think Dad shouldn't waste such valuable food on Coots though!

Our RV at the edge of one of the canals. The Coots live in this canal.

We are staying here in January and it has been very warm in the day and very cold at night. During the day we sometimes walk through the RVs that are under the tall trees that Dad calls Eucalyptus and they provide a lot of cool shade. Most of the RV park (except where we are) sits under these large trees. On these walks through the park, I get to see (and smell) all the different types of humans, RVs and Dogs that are living here. There are skinny, fat, long, short, smelly, clean and tall humans, dogs and RVs! It's a very interesting walk to break up the time between my naps!

A Night Heron sat on our Internet Antenna while we were here! He was surfing the web!

Diamond Valley Reservoir is closeby this RV Park. Humans hunt for fish here.

One day, Dad and I drove a very few miles from here to a nearby big lake. Dad says it is called Diamond Valley Reservoir. I haven't seen so much water since Henry's Lake in Idaho. (That's where I spend my summers, at RedRock RV Park.) Humans like to take their boats on the lake and look for fish. It's a pretty sight and you might consider going there. Unfortunately, I had to be on leash, but there were plenty of interesting smells along the trail.

There are mountains close to us at this RV Park.

As I said, even though there are nowhere near a Thousand Trails here, you might consider visiting since there are at least 10 trails and your dog will appreciate all the canine company and smells. Dad says it's about 3 miles to big shopping centers, and the freeway, but far enough to make you think you might be in the Wilderness.

Maybe I'll see you here next year.

Arf,

Reggie