Thanks everyone for all the help and info. We have decided we will probably winter in Rio Hondo, TX. We hope to start workcamping but aren't ready for that quite yet. Probably next year. I have looked at every single suggestion, except the one that says stay home.
Also, we are in New Mexico now, and have been for the last 6 years, but we are from Houston. There is a Luby's about 40 minutes away from Rio Hondo.
I winter in Yuma, AZ. The winter weather is arguably the best in the country. I've paid space rent as low as $185/mo up to about $300/mo. Many folks in the Foothills area rent private or semi-private spaces at fairly reasonable rates. This past winter I paid $275/mo, which included $50 electric. Nice, quiet area inhabited mainly by older folks.
Mr. Ed (fulltiming since 1987)
2007 Hitchhiker II LS Model 29.5 LKTG
2007 Dodge Ram 3500/6.7 CTD/QC/4X4/SB/SRW/6-speed man/Big Horn edition
WE fell in love with the Rio GRande Valley 12 years ago and will eventally live here when we stop fulltiming. The cost of living, temperature and warmth of the local people make this the place to be. We stay at Alamo Rec Veh (just east of McAllen) and would not trade places with any other park in the valley. It is mid-priced and has more acdtivities that one can do. And it is in the middle of the RGV, which means you have the Gulf Coast to the Upper Valley for your entertainment and pleasure. Please feel free to email me if you want more information.
2002 Newmar Kountry Star 34RLCK Fifth Wheel
2001 Ford F350, Dually, PSD
"Lovin' this Full-timer thing."
Clay L wrote: We stay in the Coyote Ridge RV park in Bouse AZ for $160 per month plus electricity (about $55 per month for us). It is about 25 miles from Quartzsite.
They will allow a screen room to be set up and some folks use one for hobbies.
There is also a quilting group at the community building a few blocks away.
Can you give me any additional info about Coyote Ridge RV Park? That monthly rate seems pretty low. Do you have to sign up for multiple months to get that rate? I usually boondock around Quartzsite, but have been looking for a park outside of Q. I've never visited Bouse so don't know too much about it. Is there a grocery store or any other services there. Thanks
The reason that the rate is low is that it is out in the middle of nowhere. If you like the desert and don't mind having to drive to get to things, it is an interesting area.
We like to be closer to restaurants, shopping, theatre, museums, etc., which is why we go to Mesa.
Barb
Barb & Dave O'Keeffe - full-timing since 2006 Traveling catpanion Shadow (age 15) Figment II (2002 Alpine 36 MDDS) Mischief (2004 Subaru Forester Toad) FMCA - F337834, SKP #90761 Our Blog
Clay L wrote: We stay in the Coyote Ridge RV park in Bouse AZ for $160 per month plus electricity (about $55 per month for us). It is about 25 miles from Quartzsite.
They will allow a screen room to be set up and some folks use one for hobbies.
There is also a quilting group at the community building a few blocks away.
Can you give me any additional info about Coyote Ridge RV Park? That monthly rate seems pretty low. Do you have to sign up for multiple months to get that rate? I usually boondock around Quartzsite, but have been looking for a park outside of Q. I've never visited Bouse so don't know too much about it. Is there a grocery store or any other services there. Thanks
You get the rate for a one month stay. But most people stay for several months.
There are a number of ATV riders that stay there, and they go on group rides a lot. It is not a problem though, they don't make a lot of noise. Often they load the ATVs on trucks and drive to places farther away than they want to ride to.
It is not a fancy park with a lot of amenities but has desert plants,trees and palms for landscaping.
Although it doesn't bother the folks that stay there, the park is alongside Highway 72 and there is a train track on the other side of 72.
Bouse is very small but has a post office, convenience store, library, community building, medical center with weekly visits by a doctor and nurses, laundromat, two restaurants and a couple of bars. There is a Flight for Life helicopter pad on the edge of town - maybe a mile or so from the park.
Verizon has 3G coverage at about 3 bars in the park.
Walmart, CVS and Safeway are in Parker, about 25 miles away.
The place isn't everyone's cup of tea but most of us that stay there have been going back each year for several years - 8 in our case.
Clay (WA5NMR), Lee (Wife), Katie (cat).
Full Timing in a 2004 Winnebago Sightseer 35N, Workhorse chassis, Honda Accord toad
Stayed at KM Resort's: Travel Inn RV Resort in Elma, WA this past winter. We had only 1 snow storm all winter and it was on Jan 17th. It was about 8 inches and the snow lasted less than a week. I wore short-sleeve polo shirts, docker shorts, and sandals (barefoot) - even in the snow, all winter long. I think I wore a parka 4 times - because it is goretex, has a hood, and it was raining out. I saved a good $2,400 or so - just in gasoline not purchased for the trip to AZ and back. From Oct 1 to Apr 30 I can stay 21-7-21 and I don't pay for electricity on my KM resort membership. I purchased 7 out-weeks @ $128.11 (includes tax) per out-week. In other words, I paid $896.77 for 7 months and I didn't put a drop of gas in the tank. I'd like to see a snowbird beat that at an RV park. There were some 40-60 RVs here all winter. It was not boring in the clubhouse, to say the least.
The key points to wintering in the North West, west of the Cascades are:
- have a good dehumidifier
- be OK with rain 6 out of 7 days each week
- have really good umbrellas
- run the faucet at a trickle with tank valve open when too cold outside
- have an external propane tank (mine is covered by snow, next to RR tire), or be in a park that has "at site" propane service
- start the motorhome's engine once a month or so - run it for at least 20 minutes
- start the generator once a month or so - run it under load for at least 20 minutes
- detail the RV in the Spring to get the winter grime out of the RV's trim and wash the RV
* This post was
edited 08/19/12 02:28pm by gotsmart *
2005 Cruise America 28R (Four Winds 28R) on a 2004 Ford E450 SD 6.8L V10 4R100
2009 smart fortwo Passion with Roadmaster "Falcon 2" towbar & tail light kit - pictures
gotsmart wrote: Stayed at KM Resort's: Travel Inn RV Resort in Elma, WA this past winter. We had only 1 snow storm all winter and it was on Jan 17th. It was about 8 inches and the snow lasted less than a week.
No snow is good snow!
9-11 WE WILL NEVER FORGET!
04 HitchHiker DA LS 33.5 RLTG
09 F350 CC DRW 4X4
John
“A good traveler has no fixed plans, and is not intent on arriving.” Lao Tzu
One of the things we discovered full-timing was how cold most of the country gets and how awful the RV is for cold weather. Our first year we spent in FL, and didn’t get reliably warm weather until we were as far south as Miami. If you look at a map, there isn’t much US territory south of Miami.
Still we had tons to keep us busy in FL – down one coast, to the Keys, up the Gulf Coast and around the panhandle. We move every 3 to 7 days and didn’t run out of things to do. FL is a great (if crowded) place to winter.
Our 2nd year full-timing we had moved further west and were really at a loss of what to do. Most of TX still gets very cold – In Houston, for example, I was scraping ice off my car windshield in early December. The very south of TX might be warmer, but it’s too small an area to keep us busy for all of those long winter months.
The solution? We hopped a plane and spent January and February backpacking around Central America.
For our 3rd winter on the road, we’ll almost certainly store the RV again. This time: Thailand and Southeast Asia.
Photo from this past winter in Caye Caulker, Belize
Gone4Good, LOL!! I know that Houston can get cold, lived there for years. But, it's in our price range to stay in Texas. We know what to do with the dogs on Corpus and of course I mentioned Lubys.
We looked at Quartzite a lot, a whole lot. Then I started thinking about gem shows and art and craft shows and how I'll have no where to put this stuff when I buy it. I'm a shopper. Only since we decided to go full time have I quit shopping so much.
So for the first year it will be Texas. I would prefer the less expensive rates of Quartzite but need more practice at not buying things.
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