This new information changes things a bit. Here is something else to think about:
First, I don't think you will have ANY problem finding a site in south Texas. We spent this past winter there, and there were campgrounds all over the place, and most that we checked had open sites.
Second, many of the membership parks have restrictions on how long you can stay before you have to move on (maximum two weeks for the one we had). Others don't allow you to use your member status during certain prime times of the year (winter for us snowbirds), so they may block out the prime winter months in Texas.
My recomendation would be to start putting the membership money aside (as you said, since you're still working), but research the membership THOROUGHLY, and ask a lot of questions. Hold off for a year or two before you make a decision, because I really don't think you'll find the need for a membership just to guarantee a winter site. Then, stay right here on the snowbird forum and ask questions of the others. You'll see that this forum gets real busy starting in the fall, and there will be a whole lot of people to ask questions of.
For January and February I would suggest Quartzsite Arizona. There is a lot of BLM land that is either free or reasonable to camp on. Boondocking!! Yuma has some, Niland Calif, State and national parks in Arizona and New Mexico are reasonable. Beware of fleas in Texas if you have pets.
Back to memberships, be sure to read the fine print, some are lifetime, some have high transfer fees, almost all limit your stay, many are out of the way and not all are really nice.
Once again, Thanks to everyone for the advice. It certanily is food for thought. I never realized these packages were so complicated and had so many stipulations. Will probably make reservations ahead of time and just go...give it a year or so, talk to other snowbirds, and play it by ear from there.
Eventually would like to travel 4-6 months out of the year, but still keep my home base (Illinois)
Quartzite sounds like fun, but heard it gets cold at night. Although the concept of boondocking sounds interesting. Otherwise, how much should I expect to pay a nite, week in a regular RV park?
When we went to Texas this past winter, we stayed a month each on the coast, in the RGV, and in the Hill Country area. The RV parks were the least expensive we found anywhere - ranging from a low of $200 to a high of $600+, per month. They were about half (or less) what we paid in Florida, and most were just as nice or nicer. Click here to bring up a website with a bunch of Texas campgrounds with web pages. You can find some of the ones that intrest you and see what they charge, and what they offer. Have fun researching, and planning your trip.
As I read this thread I had to keep reminding myself that most of whom post in this area are snowbirds, not fulltimers. For fulltimers, membership campgrounds are a terrific way of keeping cost down. We use them for over 180 nights a year, and pay anywhere from $0 (yes, $0) to $10 per night. C2C is $10/night if staying at true C2C parks. There are Good Neighbor Parks and others that are more, but the C2C (and RPI and AOR) are $10/night. We paid for ours in 2 years and now enjoy nice campgrounds (we are currently at Niagara Lazy Lakes for $0/night) near the things we want to see. We don't depend upon them entirely, but do make use of them whenever possible. Using membership campgrounds we spent several weeks in Arizona for as little as $2/night on average.
Barb
Barb & Dave - full-timing Traveling catpanions Kit (age 18) and Shadow (age 11) Figment II (2002 Alpine 36 MDDS) Mischief (2004 Subaru Forester Toad) FMCA - F337834, SKP #90761 http://homepage.mac.com/barbaraok/ Our blog
Barb is right except in the heavy snowbird destinations. Most if not all, rv parks discontinue all discounts during season. And most if not all, set aside the non pick of the liter sites during season. Lets face it, they are there to take your money during the season. Othewise, they will let you park for almost free when it is 110 outside and you are the only one there.
You will not find many fifty percent discount spots anywhere for snowbirds and if you do, you best homestead it.
I've been reading about campground memberships that you can purchase, anywhere from $1000-$5000 where you can travel the country, stay at grounds in their netowrk for free, or a few dollard a night.
My question is, what's the catch? I've heard they sock it to you with annual maint. fees, but didn't know if it would be a good idea for full timing? Are they a rip off?
Any info would be greatly appreciated!
Cindy
Cindy,
The more I have looked into it over the years, the more I found it wasn't a good deal in any way for the average on-the-move RVer. Most of these programs are in out-of-the-way places, not where you'd want to spend time anyway. For the RVer that is actually a "pad to pad" concrete Snowbird, they are putting up with rules and locations just to park free somewhere. Are they worth it? Absolutely not! I've never seen a program that was in any way geared to the savings they espouse. The Camping World hawking salespeople are the worst! Beware of them when leaving a Camping World store. They are the equivelant to condo time-shares, that you can't give away. If someone can show me a program to the contrary, I would be happy to inspect it.
"The Camping World hawking salespeople are the worst! Beware of them when leaving a Camping World store. They are the equivelant to condo time-shares, that you can't give away."
I have heard this said before, but can honestly say that this has never happened to me at any camping world store. I would imagine it depends entirely on the personality of the "salesperson" who is on duty.
bumpy
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