RVs on the River
Durango RV Resort offers travelers views of the Sacramento
REDDING.COM
07/11/2008

Donna Hollenshade can count the RVs traveling Interstate 5 from the big window in her new office at Red Bluff's Durango RV Resort.

"There's one!" she said, pointing. "And there's a big rig."

Hollenshade, resort co-manager with husband Bill, hopes many rigs will stop at the new resort, which is set to open later this month after more than three years of planning, permitting and construction.

Landscapers have been busy planting drought-resistant shrubs, watering new sod and finishing the water-conserving underground irrigation, and filling three fountain pools that stretch between the main lodge and the River Room.

"It's been exciting to take it from the ground up," she said. Since 2005, Bill Hollenshade has consulted with the developers, GMB Realty Partners of Oakland, about site layout and what RV users need and want.

And the Hollenshades should know: They've been full-time RV users for about five years, managing RV parks mostly in the western United States.

Before going on the road, the Hollenshades lived in the Eureka-Arcata area, where Donna worked nearly 25 years for Humboldt State University and Bill was a deputy marshal with the sheriff's office. They also managed condos and student housing.

"People there go inland to get to the sun," she said, smiling, "and people here go to the coast to get cool."

When they retired in the late 1990s, the couple moved to their Trinity Center vacation home, enjoying snowy winter days and their golden retriever curled up next to the wood stove.

"We loved the snow, but after awhile it gets old. So we started RVing to get out of the snow," Hollenshade explained.

After a cross-country trip in 2000, they decided they really liked the RV way of life and asked their favorite park in Desert Hot Springs if they could provide seasonal help. Eventually the Hollenshades decided to go full-time.

"Some people put everything in storage," she said. "We told our three daughters to decide what you want and ended up with just a small storage shed of things.

"You get to see more. If you're not happy, you just pick up and go," she said. "And you meet such nice people!"

The couple have worked in several parks, including Lake Havasu, Betabel Resort near San Juan Bautista and Oregon, among others. They met GMB owner Gary Breen while at Betabel and agreed to help him get Durango -- the first of five planned California RV resorts -- up and running.

Durango Resort sits on 27 acres of riverfront property that used to be a haven for transients behind Red Bluff's Belle Mill Shopping Center. Part of the land east of I-5 was recently donated to the city as a park, completing the environmental mitigation agreement between Durango and the city.

Access to the park, which will remain largely undeveloped, is via a paved path along the resort's east wall. Durango visitors can walk or ride bikes along the riverfront path from within the gated resort.

Hollenshade explained that there are three kinds of RV parks: the destination park at a popular attraction, the semi-destination park by an attraction or near recreational areas, and the hotel park for overnight stays. While the couple expect mostly overnight travelers at first, they're hoping many will use it as a base to explore the north state's recreational areas, or to attend such local events as the monster truck rally, the Tehama District Fair, Red Bluff Bull and Gelding Sale, and Red Bluff Round-Up.

Although the resort's 174 paved sites will easily accommodate the newest big rigs with pads from 75 to 110 feet long, RVs of all sizes except for bus conversions are welcome, Hollenshade said. Most are regular pull-through sites; some are "buddy" sites where tandem travelers share one large patio area. Twenty-one pads face the fountains, and 11 premium sites overlook the Sacramento River. Extended stay sites are available.

"People are not going to give up their vacation and fun time. They might not travel as far or go as long, but they won't give it up," Hollenshade said, watching another RV cross the I-5 Sacramento River bridge.