Full Timing Annual CG Fees

[ispjs]

We previously did a 2.5 year stretch of full timing in our 39' fiver.  I had newly retired for the second time and even though we wintered for 3 or 4 months in Florida we pretty much stayed in vacation mode.  In other words, we were putting around 20,000 miles on a year running all over the U.S. trying to see all the highlights as quickly as possible.  We never really tried dry camping nor did we consider weekly or monthly rates at campgrounds.  We simply planned where we wanted to go next and booked the CGs.  Some were $30 a night and some were as much as $70 a night.  Annually we probably were spending $12,000 or more.

This time around we have a RV that obviously can handle short dry camping periods without any modifications.  Currently we are staying put in SW Florida.  I am beginning to map out our first several months of desired travels which will begin in April sometime.

I have a spot set up for an extended stay in central Illinois to allow us to visit family and friends there.  It is only $330 a month including utilities.  Other than that I am using RVParky app to find some different dry camping spots.  We also have the names/numbers of a couple CGs we will be calling in Alabama that may offer cheap monthly rates.  Right now my procedure for searching is to find a possible site, google earth it to see exactly what it looks like, check crimereports.com to see what goes on there, and then if it is a privately owned CG call and get all the information.

My question is to other full timing folks with larger coaches and/or longer toads, how do you seek out your CGs?  Do you have other publications/apps that get you started?  What are some of the deals you find when booking for a week or a month instead of daily?    After a while do you just keep using some of the same CGs for extended stays and use your toad for sightseeing from there?  My goal is to cut our annual camping fees down to under $9,000 or so. 

[kaypsmith]

I can't answer your direct question, but will add in case you are not already acquainted with Deer Run campground near Troy Alabama, they offer weekly and monthly rates. Excellent cg and one of the better hunting locations in Alabama.

[ispjs]

Thanks, we have stayed at Deer Run several times over the years.  It is an excellent CG but we never checked their longer term rates.  If I recall weren't their pull thru sites only about 70' long?

[BillAdams]

Trying to do much dry camping in a 70+ foot rig is going to be a challenge.  There are some dry camping campgrounds in Quartzsite during the season and there are some smooth routes into some of the BLM lands out West but you are going to need to do some serious scouting ahead of time to ensure you will be able to get in and out safely.

[alflorida]

Since the cost of RV Parks will be crimping your budget, consider volunteer work in National Forests, National Parks, State Parks and other places.  Generally you get free parking with utilities for around 24-30 hours of work a week.   Also people work camp at commercial RV Parks to supplement their income.

I do have to ask, though.  Did you buy too much of an RV for your budget if $12,000 a year for RV Park fees is a problem.   A 44 foot long diesel pusher is not an inexpensive rig.  Should be very, very comfortable though. 

[kaypsmith]

Yes Deer Run pull throughs are about 70 feet, but they have a place to park trailers etc. at no extra charge. If you need over 70, as stated by others is pretty hard to find, in most places. Some have a few that just happened that way because of the lay of the land. There is an ACOE near Eufaula Al., called White Oak Creek Camp, located on Lake Eufaula, that over half of their sites are 90 to 120 feet, and of course they honor Golden Age or what ever is the new name for it. Problem is there is that 2 week limit or you must move, although I think that that rule is suspended for the winter months. Lake city RV park, just above your stated home location is under new ownership, and they have greatly improved that CG over the last 2 years, and they have extended stay rates.  Happy trails

[ispjs]

11 hours ago, BillAdams said:

Trying to do much dry camping in a 70+ foot rig is going to be a challenge.  There are some dry camping campgrounds in Quartzsite during the season and there are some smooth routes into some of the BLM lands out West but you are going to need to do some serious scouting ahead of time to ensure you will be able to get in and out safely.

Good point.  I have already used google earth to look at a few Walmarts that allow dry camping overnight and a couple of them would be a little challenging to get into with my combination even though they were less than a mile off the interstate.  

[elkhartjim]

Joe, its not the getting in that I am concerned with its the getting out.

 

[manholt]

Joe. Have you looked at KOA in Milton, Fl., on I-10 Exit 31.  Looooong pull thru and they have a lot of long term parking...don't know their monthly rates!

[ispjs]

10 hours ago, alflorida said:

Since the cost of RV Parks will be crimping your budget, consider volunteer work in National Forests, National Parks, State Parks and other places.  Generally you get free parking with utilities for around 24-30 hours of work a week.   Also people work camp at commercial RV Parks to supplement their income.

I do have to ask, though.  Did you buy too much of an RV for your budget if $12,000 a year for RV Park fees is a problem.   A 44 foot long diesel pusher is not an inexpensive rig.  Should be very, very comfortable though. 

It isn't that $12,000 a year is too much strain on any type of budget, it is simply that I really don't want to pay most campgrounds $40 a night for a piece of grass and $6.00 worth of electricity 365 days a year.  We gladly pay $1,200 a month plus electric here in SW Florida for our winter stay.   Don't mind paying with the quality of CG and all the activities, plus we have to be in this area to get all the doctor visits and stuff out of the way.    

Appreciate the concern, but we can probably squeeze by for a few years in our rig without mowing grass part time.

[ispjs]

18 minutes ago, elkhartjim said:

Joe, its not the getting in that I am concerned with its the getting out.

 

I would think that depending on the Walmart you would have to get up fairly early and monitor how busy they are getting and what is getting parked around you.  

[elkhartjim]

I don't know it the Texas Rio Grande Valley area is of interest, but we usually stay here for a few weeks in the spring. 

http://llanogranderesort.com/

[elkhartjim]

9 minutes ago, ISPJS said:

I would think that depending on the Walmart you would have to get up fairly early and monitor how busy they are getting and what is getting parked around you.  

We stopped around 6 at the Walmart in Fort Stockton, TX a few months ago and there were three rv's there. We left at 6:30 the next morning and there were 30+.

[ispjs]

15 minutes ago, manholt said:

Joe. Have you looked at KOA in Milton, Fl., on I-10 Exit 31.  Looooong pull thru and they have a lot of long term parking...don't know their monthly rates!

Thanks Carl, I'll check them out.  Friends of ours went all the way up to Robertsdale AL (Azalea Acres RV Park) to keep their coach safe from Irma.  It isn't fancy according to them but huge sites and an easy drive to Mobile and New Orleans.  We called them today to get rates and they gave us a monthly rate of $300 plus juice!   

That is the type of place that makes sense to me.  We can drive into New Orleans for some great evening in our car and spend other afternoons riding the Harley.  Our friends said the rural area around Robertsdale and north is great riding.

[ispjs]

Jim, I assume you were able to maneuver your way out of that Texas Walmart.  It is information like that which makes me think I may use them sparingly.  

[elkhartjim]

10 minutes ago, ISPJS said:

Jim, I assume you were able to maneuver your way out of that Texas Walmart.  It is information like that which makes me think I may use them sparingly.  

No problem getting out. Remember, you have a benefit I don't, you can easily back up.  I would need to disconnect my toad to back. 

 

[wildebill308]

1 hour ago, elkhartjim said:

No problem getting out. Remember, you have a benefit I don't, you can easily back up.  I would need to disconnect my toad to back. 

 

Jim, there are 2 kinds of people with toads. Those who have had to disconnect and those who will have to disconnect. Some times you can do everything right and still get in a situation you need to unhook to maneuver.  Fortunately it only takes a short time to do it.

Bill

[kaypsmith]

It's usually not our fault either, I parked 1/2 block away from the Cracker Barrel in Tallahassee Fl., several years ago, no cars any near me, when we came out, there was a car within 2 feet of my front end, nothing behind, I tried to back my 4 down toad, couldn't go more than 2 feet before the toad would jackknife due to the angle that it was parked in. I of course unhooked and DW backed it up. That's when I purchased 4 of the orange cones and started placing them in front, most that will park that close, are so lazy that they want move them to park that close now.

[ispjs]

I've still got to buy some reflectors in case I break down on the side of the road, but I am carrying two rather large orange traffic cones.  

[kaypsmith]

Not trying to get too far away from op subject, those small blinking triangles work great at the top of the cones for breakdown purposes.

[manholt]

Your right, you can also get them that fold in on itself (like the old 1' stiff, 6' rulers), same with the cones!

Hard to beat $300 a month anywhere & not be in the hood. 

[wayne77590]

On 12/13/2017 at 8:55 PM, WILDEBILL308 said:

Jim, there are 2 kinds of people with toads. Those who have had to disconnect and those who will have to disconnect. Some times you can do everything right and still get in a situation you need to unhook to maneuver.  Fortunately it only takes a short time to do it.

Bill

Confession: I'm in the first category.

[manholt]

X2, got the T- Shirt.

[tbutler]

I had to look it up because our rates went up last year.  This is the rate for a mobile home lot at Sandpipers Resort in Edinburg, Texas.  We paid $3440 for our annual fee on a lot, 40 x 100 for our mobile home.  We have to pay for our electric separately, otherwise no additional fees related to the lot.  Water is included in the annual rental fee.  We have our motor home parked in the driveway next to our home.  The annual fee for RV lots is less, I don't have a current amount and I can't quote a monthly rate either.  We have a heated pool, hot tub, tennis courts, shuffleboard, frequent dances, karaoke nights on a regular basis.  Each week a group of about a dozen or more motorcycles set out to explore the Rio Grande Valley.  There are a host of other activities in the park.  We have an active golf group and a bowling league.  There are no pull through lots in the park so you'd have to learn to back it in. 

There are some parks here in the RGV that are more expensive and others that are less.  Granted, the Rio Grande Valley is not the place to be in the summer time unless you are really looking to lose some weight by sweating but it is a great place to spend the winter!  Right now the high temperature for the day is 49 degrees but we will see 60;s and 70's for highs next week.

[ispjs]

Tom, the last year prior to us retiring  we decided we needed to spend part of a winter in Texas.  We had always went to Florida and once and awhile Arizona for relief from the frozen tundra.  We did about 5 weeks on South Padre Island in March.  We had a Harley Ultra Classic at the time with us.  We actually got to ride about 3 or 4 times.  We had almost a week where the temps were in the 40's.  They had an ice storm that closed the island for 2 days!

After that experience we pretty much made up our mind that between December and March there were only two states that we could be found in......Florida or Arizona.