My DW and I have been boondocking in the LTVA's for the past 3 winters. I just had my 55th BD and she is younger. We are more than content to spend our winters in the warm desert areas of the southwest. We added solar to our rig this winter in Q. Not all boomers care for the "Resort" lifestyle.
As to Corky, I say to each their own. I am thrilled that we can all have our opinions and state them openly in this great country. I personally am apposed to any subsidies and have never been able to take advantage of them as I have always held a paying job. If now, in my retirement years, I can take advantage of a small benefit from the BLM, so be it. I have always left any area, including the LTVA's in better shape than when I arrived.
Yes, I believe that fewer people were in Q this year. I did not fight the traffic or lines for months, only a week or so. Less crowds, less traffic, more enjoyment. I do not believe that the winter lifestyle of the LTVA snowbird is in jeopardy and will continue as the BLM would rather have us in a defined area abiding by their rules.
The LTVA in Quartzsite (we have been there for the last few seasons) (La Posa North) We don't think the death of the LTVA is in any danger for years to come. Even with reduced user count, it would take 20 years for the government to change policies with doing studies and all. And with the higher cost of fuel and the cost of living overall the BLM land just might gain users spending the season in the wonders of the desert for only $180 a season... with free water and a dump station.
So all of you feel that the $180 a season is fair rent and pays for all the services you use in a season??? Why in that case does the BLM charge a minimum of $5 a day for the primitive CGs that don't have dumps and rarely have water?
Why isn't there a massive cry for the same LTVAs in your home states for summer use??? I can't go north or east and find anything like the LTVAs, in many cases not even any BLM lands to use short term.
What would it cost you for dumps and water outside the LTVA???
JustCallMeJohn wrote: Thankfully, most of the comments about LTVAs has been on the positive side here. Several of you have commented that the Boomers are too dependent on "creature comforts" to last very long in the desert without hookups. Although I'm a Boomer myself, I'd have to agree with that to some extent. Gosh, it's sure terribly difficult to make a trip or two a week to haul out your waste and grab some fresh water! But somehow we survive.
Here's my challenge to my fellow Boomers: Show us we're wrong--that you're not the spoiled and selfish generation that you are portrayed to be. Bring your RV out to an LTVA for a couple of weeks this coming winter. You may love it and you may hate it, but give it a try. Maybe you'll agree that the peace and quiet, the wide open spaces, the howl of the lonely coyote, the fresh air and the dark nights away from city lights, will be worth the sacrifice of 24/7/365 air conditioning, automatic dishwashing and 30-minute showers.
Come join our happy group of squatters on government land!
You may have it with us boomers being spoiled, hookups are nice,once in awhile, but then as far as LTVA ,maybe there are more like me, who just don't want to be Anywhere for 7 months at a time,one month maybe,we bought an RV to travel, not sit still, although with the price of fuel, you'll see people staying longer & traveling less.
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Corky, that is what makes the LTVA unique to areas where they are. Being originally from the Northeast, it would be wonderful to have BLM territory in that area. But the property has long been spoken for. Sort of like trying to find a new location for the San Diego Airport or how badly the SoKali's want Miramar moved.IMHO
Lots of other BLM, State and Federal lands in other places, I've camped on some of it, just not with the bennies of the LTVAs. Even the National Forests in the NE are down on dispersed camping, kind of reminds me of the "locals only" beaches down here.
What was wrong with the two week limits and paying for the services you use?
Corky, I can't see what you are all bent out of shape for, But since you have hijacked this thread.... We all use the roads to get from point A to point B but each of us only pay a small part of the cost. Same thing with LTVA's. So if someone is getting a deal and this is a small one so what. Just chill out and thank your stars that you are on the west coast and can get away to these places in a long weekend. So these folks feel like they own the place and that bugs you? So why do you want to take this "paid for by all of us" gift away? Just chill out and relax, I love to boondock just like you do, I just wish I was closer to the LTVA's so I could use them more often or at all. You are close to these warm areas in the winter. And if the gods are with us we can retire very soon and enjoy these warm areas in the winter too. Hey I won't have much money after I retire and after all the expenses just to live this is going to be one places that I will be headed to and enjoying often in the winter. I look at it like this, I worked so others could enjoy, so soon it will be others that can continue the work so I can have a few years to see what life has to offer. So if you see me and my little camper out there in the sage brush stop by for a hot cup of coffee.
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Gee Joe, I'd love to come up to OR and camp for six months this summer in one nice spot and only have to pay $180, have water and dump included in that, can you point me to where I can?? Can you also please include police, fire and emergency medical in that while you're at it?
Corky, You are a very funny man, you make me smile, there are places here in Oregon that you can camp for all summer for free and have access to everything you need. Are they delivered to your door step well no, so what are you saying? I am very confused by your post? Maybe I have misunderstood what you are driving at? Are you saying that the areas that are completely free to camp should now charge money? I think that we all have already paid for these areas.
OK, so you want to come up here and camp for free all summer, head on up here, I can set you up in an area where you are close to shopping, water, fuel and a $5.00 dump station. What you seem to be saying it that you can't enjoy the perk's of the LTVA's and it bugs you because some can?
So let me state this very clearly this is JMHO, so take it for what it is worth , not much. Some of these folks that are out in the desert in the LTVA'S there because the don't like what our society has become and I can't blame them. I you see them at Burning Man and other places like the slabs. But they are a small fraction. What about all the folks that have served our country in one form or another and they are now enjoying the fruits of there hard labor. I don't see this as a perk, I see this as part of what they worked hard for. It is called the price of freedom. Some of these folks served in the armed forces and gave all for this country. I don't begrudge any them what they worked hard for. Everybody has there idea of what they want for a life and if they are living it within the laws of the land then we need just get on with our own lives.
Just because we don't like something does this make it truly wrong or just an annoyance?
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