Ohio has a whole lot of RVs sitting in yards/lots with "For Sale" signs on them.My advice to anyone considering the purchase would be to fill it up with fuel before deciding.
On a recent trip to the Smokies ,we saw a lot of wk end traffic....many up scale stores had customers.During the wk, most places looked empty & even on Friday, the traffic was thin.Going/comine,we saw way fewer RVs on the road. About 50 miles from PF,it was even thinner.Our stay (in a rented cabin) wasn't a big money maker for the shops. We only ate out once in 10 days,passed on the tourist traps & only bought a few groceries. Had to save enough $$$ to get home, you know. PL
We are campground hosts at Turkey Run State Park in southern Indiana and have been here all month. We see 100% occupancy on weekends and maybe 30% - 50% (eyeballed, not factual) during the week. Talking with people there are a lot from Indianapolis which is only an hour away. but a lot from South Bend (3 hr, Chicago (4hr) Bloomington IL (2hr). Very few from much farther, but you wouldn't expect much of that just for weekends anyhow.
We were at East Harbor State Park on Lake Erie in Ohio the past five days. During the week the electric pull thru sites in the no pet section seemed to have more than usual campers for during the week. Out of approx. 110 sites only about 8 or 9 were empty. We are over 60 so pay half price Sun. - Thurs. night. So it cost us $14.50/night and we used a little over 1/4 tank of diesel to get there and back home. We live about 1 1/4 hrs. away. Figured it cost us approx. $25/day for camping and fuel, plus we drove around some while we were there. Couldn't have driven up there in our car and stayed at a hotel and bought our meals in a restaurant for $25/day.
I know I haven't seen as many RVs on the road. It bugs me that Mexico has cheaper gas-How come we have to pay so much? I'm going to be optimistic and try to remember the gas panic of the 70's. This too, will pass. I worry that the school districts are going to have a lot of trouble next fall paying for transportation.
We are at Ocean Lakes Campground in Myrtle Beach and have been since March. Since the 3rd week of March the campground has been full - 900 sites. Over spring breaks, which were 6 weeks long, there were people from NY, Mass, Ohio, Maryland and of course SC, NC, GA, etc. This place stays full. Only 2 months, Jan and Feb, are slow. I have noticed the beach house rentals are down this year but the campground is booming.
sfprop wrote: Othertonka: I suspect a lot of the rental RVs are tourists from Europe - I have met a few that fly here and rent and RV so they can travel and "save" on hotels.
Also, now, coming to America is "cheep" for them and their Euro. Gas? Half the price of Europe. They LOVE it!
Come to think about it there were a lot of foreign languages being spoken all over the campground from people in those rental units. There was even one large red RV, Foreign made, larger than a prevost, I have seen one just like it a couple years ago in the midwest, that pulled into the campground. It has bus like seats for about 18 people up front and the back end has cubbie hole bunk like sleeping compartments behind a fold down porch and a canvas where they sleep. The kitchen came out on the side and the German driver also did the cooking for everyone. They were all foreign people and haveing a great time. So maybe it is cheaper here for them, and at least they got to see our beautiful Yosemite park.
Thanks for pointing that out to me.
Othertonka
2004 Southwind 32VS
2002 CRV Toad
U. S. Gear Unified brake system
Retired Fire Captain, SFD
We canceled our annual spring Myrtle Beach trip and just last week canceled out trip to Virginia Beach(reservations that were made a year ago !).
We made reservations at campground much closer to home for a long weekend instead. And unfortunately, that will be all the camping we will do this year. And we will see how things look next year. This probably will turn out to be a life altering experience for all of us.
Minnow is right - it will be life altering for most of us. This is most likely not going to be like the 70's. The rest of the world was still sleeping back then. They are awake and thriving now. They want their share of the world's resources and rightfully so. It is their turn. We had a good and long run on cheap oil and other commodities.
The REALITY of it is - fuel prices may go down a bit in the near future, but they will go up again - probably way up - and that is just the way it will be. Those increases will cause everything else to go up also. Our standard of living will just be less - that is all. As "Sea Dog" essentially said an earlier post - who ever assured us that we North Americans were guaranteed some special lot in life. Still, there is no reason to be defeatist, but it does make sense to be realistic.
Those who still can - will - and those who prefer to be more cautious and conservative - or can't now - will either adjust in other ways or will stay home. Look around - there are probably lots of things to do within 100 miles of where you live that you never explored before, hiking, biking, camping, walking, volunteering, etc., at city, county, state parks and/or private parks. Find your "can do" spirit.
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