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My Observation About RV Parks
07-31-2017, 02:00
Post: #11
RE: My Observation About RV Parks
That's living the dream Chuck! LOL! Smile

david brady,
'02 Wanderlodge LXi 'Smokey' (Sold),
'04 Prevost H3 Vantare 'SpongeBob'

"there is no perfect forum there are only perfect forums"
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07-31-2017, 18:26
Post: #12
RE: My Observation About RV Parks
Chuck,

I'm reluctant to take the opinion of who ever answers the phone at the park. It's either someone that's clueless about size or it's an owner looking at occupancy rates.

I'me stayed at parks from FL to AK and have maybe once been let down. Google Earth is your friend when it comes to looking at parks. This coupled with park reviews has worked for me.
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07-31-2017, 18:51 (This post was last modified: 07-31-2017 18:58 by cmillsap.)
Post: #13
RE: My Observation About RV Parks
(07-31-2017 18:26)CC_Guy Wrote:  Chuck,

I'm reluctant to take the opinion of who ever answers the phone at the park. It's either someone that's clueless about size or it's an owner looking at occupancy rates.

I'me stayed at parks from FL to AK and have maybe once been let down. Google Earth is your friend when it comes to looking at parks. This coupled with park reviews has worked for me.
Yep cc_guy, I'm usually more discerning when trying to book reservations. However, here in the Northwest, rv parks are full up and you're fortunate to even find a spot to park without making reservations days or even weeks in advance.

What's happening is that the rv parks are being turned into permanent residents of 5th wheels and travel trailer owners which leaves less spots in the parks available for people traveling through the area or just visiting for a few days. It's becoming more like the park operators think they are doing you a favor by renting you a spot rather than being appreciative of you as a customer. Rates are also increasing in the process due to demand being higher than the supply.

The RV Parks are also getting filled up due to people coming to view the upcoming eclipse on the 21st of August. Next week we'll be out of the congestion and into northern Montana for fun and fishing.


Chuck & Tela Millsap
Arizona
2003 Marathon XLII S/S
2000 Wanderlodge LXi S/S
2004 Wanderlodge M380 D/S
2000 Wanderlodge LXi N
/S
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09-01-2017, 16:21
Post: #14
RE: My Observation About RV Parks
.....and sometimes in RV Parks you can witness some idiotic things such as the pics show. This guy decided to cut across 3 spaces diagonally to get to the entry/exit of the park.


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İmage İmage İmage


Chuck & Tela Millsap
Arizona
2003 Marathon XLII S/S
2000 Wanderlodge LXi S/S
2004 Wanderlodge M380 D/S
2000 Wanderlodge LXi N
/S
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09-20-2017, 15:15 (This post was last modified: 09-20-2017 15:25 by Itchintogo.)
Post: #15
RE: My Observation About RV Parks
Just got back from Vancouver Island day before yesterday and I have to admit I am glad I don't have a bigger unit that I do. 44 ft when hooked up but it articulates in the middle. I have noticed the same thing you guys are noticing as well. For many of the various reasons discussed on this thread, this was exactly my reasoning not to retain my Bird and keep my 5ver. It is just easier and I can fit into most places and stealth boondock if I have to. There were 3 or 4 instances on this trip I was appreciative I didn't have anything bigger. As it was it was still 450.00 just for the boat rides. I did happen to see another forum moderator walking his dog in Victoria as I was at the same campground which is also probably 50% permanent residents mixed throughout the sizable campground. They charged top dollar and no weekly rate although they must have an unadvertised monthly rate. One other thing I noticed this trip is that alot of campgrounds won't post their rate on their website. They don't want you to be able to compare CG's on your phone.

BLM with a bus is often done but I also know of a few that have had a sinking problem. At least you don't have to put the step out!

I like the State and Provincial Parks as they have the 14 day stay limit so that eliminates the residency issues. But a couple of years ago Oregon went with Reserve America and boy it is alot harder to find a spot. What I do now, is I know Carl G Washburn and Cape Blanco are non reservable parks so I plan to arrive at either park around 1 PM and usually get a spot. Both of those parks have some spots that would fit a Prevost. Washburn full service no internet or cell and Blanco has cell service and water and power no dump station. Blanco has quite a few big rig spots and what a vista as well.

But honestly the last year and a half I am feeling like Hish. I am seriously considering selling the trailer the truck and my place in WA. It is all becoming just a bit "too much". Both in terms of time and effort and also in certain current antics that I really would rather distance myself from. As Hish pointed out in another thread it may well be "time to do something different" indeed. I guess I am slowly losing " my itch to go".
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09-22-2017, 03:20 (This post was last modified: 09-22-2017 13:22 by cmillsap.)
Post: #16
RE: My Observation About RV Parks
Four months on the road in the bus this Summer has changed my attitude about the best way for us to own and use a motorcoach. We have used a motorcoach to travel the country for more than twenty years and enjoyed the ability to spontaneously travel from place to place without having to pre-plan and reserve a space in a RV park several days and weeks in advance. We traveled everywhere. There’s hardly a place in the continental U.S that we haven’t visited. That feeling of being footloose and fancy free without the need to plan ahead for a place to spend the night was great. We could travel all day, stop at our leisure, explore along the way, then look up a RV park in Woodall’s book near our location, drive there and find plenty of uncongested spaces available to park the rig for the night or longer if we decided to stay for a while. That is no longer possible.

Starting a few years ago it became necessary to call a RV park early in the morning near where you think you will be when it comes time to stop for the night. That basically removed the possibility to explore along the way or make unscheduled stops to visit discovered attractions because we had already reserved a space somewhere and had to pay in advance when making the reservation. Most RV parks require a 24-hour notice to cancel a reservation or you don’t get your money back. True, daily reservations are still possible at many parks but many will require your reservation days and even weeks in advance. This is especially true in the prime travel season. Prime travel season in the northern U.S is June through September and November through April in the southern U.S. The large number of Snowbirds heading south for the Winter fill up most of the available spaces. RV park rates increase substantially during those peak times.

Most RV Parks that we visited this Summer were always filled-up, noisy, crowded, congested and overpriced for what they offered. Instances of late night arrivals and neighbors cranking up and leaving at 6:AM was not unusual. Smelly loose sewer connections as they dumped happened often. Combine that with trying to squeeze on spaces that were not constructed to comfortably accommodate a 45’ Prevost, having to constantly monitor the park’s reducing electrical voltage as the park filled up, poor wifi and TV reception and neighbor RVs parked so close that the slides almost touch each other have caused me to avoid as many stays as possible at RV parks and has changed my mind about owning our own RV lot.

So, we were fortunate to find a solution to the problem and enjoyed the last six weeks of this summer on our own lot which we purchased in a Motorcoach Resort in Montana. We are looking forward to next Summer and enjoying our own large space with all its amenities including a spacious covered patio, outdoor kitchen, storage shed and lots of privacy. All the conveniences of home.

I’m happy not to have to deal with finding places to stay or all the other issues associated with RV travel. We may leave our lot and visit other destination RV Resorts for a week or so but no more traveling from RV park to RV park for us. We just don’t find that fun anymore.


Chuck & Tela Millsap
Arizona
2003 Marathon XLII S/S
2000 Wanderlodge LXi S/S
2004 Wanderlodge M380 D/S
2000 Wanderlodge LXi N
/S
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09-22-2017, 17:55 (This post was last modified: 09-27-2017 13:20 by travelite.)
Post: #17
RE: My Observation About RV Parks
In addition to everything that's been said I'd like to add something that happened to us in Colorado. Suzana and I manage the current CG situation by booking well ahead and arriving on time. This often means many long driving days to stay on schedule. We usually stay around two weeks at each location unless we're terribly disappointed with the CG in which case we call around and move on. This past trip we stayed for extended periods in the high mountain country of Colorado, outside of Yellowstone in Wyoming, and at Mt Rushmore. Everything was planned except the Mt Rushmore trip. We called a CG at the last minute and got spot and this was during Sturgis bike week which is the busiest week of the year with over 100,000 bikers showing up. So we've been somewhat fortunate in finding suitable CGs on this last trip. Anyway, back to my story. One morning while in Co we loaded everyone in the car and drove to Leadville. We found a paved bike riding trail so we pulled in and parked the car. We're all sitting in the car talking and preparing for our hike. I had the air conditioning on. I opened my door to get items from the trunk when I saw this guy approaching me. He said, "do you like our clean Colorado air"? I said, "sure I do". He replied, "Well then turn your damn engine off. You know we have engine idle rules in Colorado. Why don't you go back to your own state and pollute the air there"! At which point, I told him "TO TAKE A HIKE AND BUZZ OFF"! I know I didn't do NC/CO public relations any good, but all throughout our Colorado stay I felt and sensed this attitude by the locals. Go home, we don't want you here kind of feeling. A rudeness by drivers, service staff, and this vigilante really topped it off so I let him have it. I guess what I'm saying is along with everything that's been said in this thread, there's also this local xenophobia thing that I'm sensing. I don't know where it comes from but if I were to guess I'd say it's an offshoot of our current Washington administration. People feel emboldened to take matters into their own hands, instead of calling the police, they get in your face. A little bit of a tangent, but RV and travel related.

david brady,
'02 Wanderlodge LXi 'Smokey' (Sold),
'04 Prevost H3 Vantare 'SpongeBob'

"there is no perfect forum there are only perfect forums"
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02-01-2019, 22:32
Post: #18
RE: My Observation About RV Parks
I know this is a old thread but I have a thought . We could pool our Private resort sites and then rather than own one in 4 states we share Smile I own a Lot at ORI Indio, she has a outdoor kitchen and I leave my golf cart there . I do not plan to use her this season so send me a note or tex and we can trade Smile Or you can just use it since I'm not there lol

Al Perna
1998 Prevost Vantare
2000 LXI ss ( for sale)
Ormond Beach Fla
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[-] The following 1 user Likes cubeman's post:
davidbrady (02-02-2019)
06-27-2023, 00:21
Post: #19
RE: My Observation About RV Parks
(02-01-2019 22:32)cubeman Wrote:  I know this is a old thread but I have a thought . We could pool our Private resort sites and then rather than own one in 4 states we share Smile I own a Lot at ORI Indio, she has a outdoor kitchen and I leave my golf cart there . I do not plan to use her this season so send me a note or tex and we can trade Smile Or you can just use it since I'm not there lol


I think this is a great idea actually, provided people want to just travel to and from a limited number of spaces around the Country.

Mike
Marathon H3
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