Should You Buy a Private Campground Membership?

When Denny and I hit the road as full time RVers, the only camping organizations we had joined were FMCA (Family Motorcoach of America), Good Sam, Escapees and Passport America. We used FMCA as our mail forwarding service (remember, when we started off as fulltimers we had a 1994 Bounder motorhome) and for the first year I planned our route almost exclusively using the half-price Passport America campgrounds. Way back then in 1998 most of the campgrounds that were a part of Passport America allowed week long to month long to unlimited stays, simply to try to pull in business.

In December of 1999, we purchased our first fifth wheel and included in that sale was a "free" membership to the Thousand Trails organization, with a home park in Unadilla, Georgia. Since we had just bought the fifth wheel trailer and had to purchase a new truck to pull it, we just didn't want to spend the $500 extra dollars for the first year's membership dues. Big mistake. At that time (pre-Internet access) I was under the impression that Thousand Trails parks were mostly nature preserves that had only water and electric hook ups and we like having full hook ups to be able to use our washer and dryer. After all, that is why we have a washer and dryer. So we passed on that offer.

This worked for us for several years, until we finally decided to try wintering in Arizona and there we picked up a "free" four day stay coupon at a local Camping World display. And thus, we ended up buying into the Colorado River Adventures organization, which had seven campgrounds in its pool of locations plus an affiliation with the Coast to Coast campground organization. So now for $X for the initial buy-in and $x for the annual membership we had "free" camping plus access to a large number of private campgrounds for $8 a night through Coast to Coast. And for the next year once we left Arizona I used Coast to Coast parks almost exclusively in our travels.

The following winter we had gone on a day trip to Los Algodones while staying at the CRA park in Yuma, Arizona and before we crossed the bridge over the Rio Grande a gentleman standing at the side of the road handed us a coupon for a week's stay at yet another private membership club; Western Horizons resorts. Hey, we'll give it a try--nothing says we have to buy in, right? *sigh* Listening to the sales pitch, we could actually see the benefit; for about the same cost as our seven campground CRA membership, we could purchase a Western Horizons membership which gave us access to their twenty-seven campgrounds, plus the chance to join Resorts of Distinction (ROD), Sunbelt and Adventure Outdoor Resorts (AOR). Camping at the Western Horizon and ROD parks would be free, the Sunbelt and AOR parks would have a nightly fee of $8. Western Horizon/ROD parks extended up the western coast all the way to Washington which would allow us to explore that area, all of which was new to us. Okay, we bit the bullet once again and signed up. In the year 2005, Denny and I traveled from Arizona to Washington between January and June and only paid for a campground a couple of times as we came up through Idaho. The private member campgrounds were working out quite well.

Enter our friends Don and Vicki who became full timers and were given a free TT membership at the time of their purchase of a toy hauler. When the two of them came to Ohio from Georgia to visit friends and family they stayed at the Wilmington, Ohio TT preserve and invited us over to visit. That's when Denny and I realized that Thousand Trails campgrounds came with full hook up sites (there are a few that are water/electric only) and started looking into that organization because TT had fifty-two campgrounds on its roster, as well as affiliations with ROD and Resort Parks International (RPI). It just keeps going, right?

Long story short, we ended up with the TT membership, purchased though eBay and then upgraded through TT. To wade through all the letters, we at one time had Good Sam, PA, Escapees, Happy Camper (another half price/discounted campground organization), CRA, C2C, WH, ROD, AOR, Sunbelt, TT, RPI, OW (Outdoor World) and Enjoy America. Whew. We've since dropped Happy Camper (which we had gotten free because I did blog posts about them), Sunbelt and RPI/Enjoy America. A few years ago Western Horizon offered a "lifetime" membership payoff which we took advantage of and now we have no annual membership dues on that. Years ago Passport America did the same and we paid for that, which paid for itself in three campground stays.

Having these memberships has allowed us to stretch our camping budget quit a bit, especially in the years when diesel fuel goes up to ridiculous numbers. In the off season we can stay two to three weeks at a campground and during peak season we can stay two weeks at a time. At most of the affiliate parks you are allowed to stay only one week in peak season. You have to research and ask questions for each organization because the types of memberships sold varies within each organization and there are as many different types of membership as there are campgrounds within the system. TT is especially notorious for this. However, the Thousand Trails organization has come up with a new offer called Zone Camping where you don't have to "buy in" with a membership, you simply pay an annual dues/fee to obtain 30 days free use of a number of campgrounds within a zone (they divide the US into four zones) and then any additional days you camp you pay $3 a day.

And of course, next month that may all change. Campground memberships can be a bit of a gamble these days. While our Colorado River Adventures membership has stayed the same at seven campgrounds, Western Horizons has sold fourteen of its original twenty-seven parks and has most of the rest of them up for sale. What they are doing is selling the campgrounds and then "renting" spots from the new owners for use by its members. Since Denny and I haven't been in Arizona for a couple of winters I'm not quite sure how this is going to work out for us so we'll see this year and the next. The Thousand Trails organization has maintained the number of parks it owns/manages so far. And of course there are other private membership organizations out there that might work for you, depending on where you want to travel. Ocean Properties seems to be very stable and has purchased some of the Western Horizon parks for its system. Your main consideration will simply be, investigate carefully, ask a lot of questions to make sure you understand just what you are purchasing and what your particular membership allows you to do, camping-wise. Check out membership resale organizations or look in the back of any of the RV/camping magazines for memberships that are for sale, or go online on eBay to see what's being offered. After several years of owning three private campground memberships Denny and I figure we are ahead of the game. When we first purchased our CRA membership in 2003, each time we stayed at a CRA park we credited ourselves with a $20 a day fee (figuring that's what we would pay at a public campground) so at the end of our first year we felt we had cut the cost of the original membership price way down. And we continued that for a couple of years until we realized campground prices had jumped so we adjusted our daily credit to $30 a day. At that rate it doesn't take long to figure that our memberships have not only paid for themselves, even including yearly dues, but that we are now well ahead of what we paid. And after having paid daily campground rates of $45 to $47 (with Good Sam discounts but no weekly rates) in Maine this past summer, the advantage of "free" membership park usage sounds even better.

Of course, there are always city, county and state campgrounds, Core of Engineer parks, Elks clubs, fairgrounds, boondocking on US land or in the parking lot of your favorite big box store to camp less expensively or free if you boondock. For Denny and I, private membership works.

Don't Blow Your Breaker

Take a minute and see how many AMPS you could be using in your RV's 30 or 50 amp electrical systems. It's surprising how fast the amps add up which causes your breaker or the resort's breaker to trip. Knowing the amperage of all the electrical appliances in your RV can help you manage electrical use and prevent the inconvenience of:

"MY ELECTRICITY WENT OUT!"

The following is a list of the typical appliances used and the average amps required to operate them:

Air conditioner-15,000 BTU 12.5 amps

Refrigerator 2.7 amps

Electric Frying Pan 10 amps

Electric Water Heater-8 gallons 12.5 amps

Iron 10 amps

Microwave Oven 12.8 amps

Food Processor 6 amps

Electric Coffee Pot 9 amps

Crock Pot 1.5 amps

Toaster 10 amps

Heating Pad .5 amps

Hair Dryer 10 amps

110 Watt Heater 10 amps

TV 2 amps

In the morning if you start your air conditioner and the hot water heater is on, and then you start your coffee pot, make some toast and watch TV-you're pulling 55 amps with all of these appliances operating at maximum. If you also cook some bacon in the microwave at the same time, LOOK OUT! Many RV's have a switch so you can only run the microwave OR the water heater at one time, but some RV's do not have this feature.

Most electrical products show how many watts or amps it takes to operate the appliance printed on the product itself or in the instruction manual. If it shows the watts, divide the watts by 120 (volts) and that gives you the amps. To get the watts, multiply the amps by the 120 (volts).

I have found that if we are parked in a 30 amp site I can run two major electrical appliances at one time without setting off the circuit breaker, such as my electric water heater and the microwave. Using the toaster is possible also. But to run the central vacuum cleaner while cooking breakfast? Not going to happen. If it's hot outside and I want to run the air conditioner while on 30 amps, then I'll switch the electric water heater over to propane or simply turn it off until right before I need hot water and make sure I'm not using another appliance that pulls a lot of amps. It's a balancing act but it's easy to deal with once you get into the habit. Because if you set off those circuit breakers too many times, chances are you're going to be damaging the circuit boards of your appliances at the same time which is not a good thing. Even with a 50 amp site you have to be careful, although 50 amps normally allows you to add the use of one more large amperage appliance to the things you can run at one time. It's a matter of taking a moment to think about what you have running and what you want to operate before you start turning things on.

Be safe!

A Motorhome Versus a Fifth Wheel

People have asked Denny and I why we chose a fifth wheel over a motorhome. If you have been reading the pages of this website at all, you know that we have owned two motorhomes and three fifth wheels. I decided to create a comparison list of some of the good and bad points of each. Those of you who own RVs will have many of your own points to add, and I welcome your input and will add valid points to the list for those "RV lifestyle dreamers" who wish to know which RV may be best for them. Certainly newer motorhomes are gaining features formerly only found in fifth wheels and trailers and vice versa, but there are still enough differences to make careful consideration of those differences worthwhile.

MOTORHOME vs. FIFTH WHEEL TRAILER

Passenger can move around inside RV while traveling vs No access to trailer while traveling

Can tow an fuel economical vehicle for sightseeing/errands vs Large tow vehicle may be fuel hog

With a motorhome you have to fuel two vehicles; the motorhome and your tow car vs With a trailer you only fuel your tow vehicle.

With a motorhome you need to change the oil/maintain the engines of two vehicles vs With a trailer you only need to maintain one vehicle engine--your tow vehicle.

Oil changes on a motorhome will run $300+ vs Oil changes in a diesel truck may run $75

Will usually have bin space for a generator for boondocking vs Installation of generator will severely limit storage space and can cause your rig to be overweight

In most cases, you can move about MH with slides closed vs Often closed slides means no access to the interior of RV

Backing a motorhome is like backing a very large car vs Learning to back a fifth wheel/ trailer competently takes a while

Insurance costs are higher for a motorized vehicle vs Insurance costs are less since there is no engine in a trailer

Setting up a motorhome and unhitching a tow vehicle is relatively quick and easy vs Setting up and unhitching a trailer is more time-consuming

Leveling a motorhome on a very unlevel campsite can be impossible vs 5ers can be leveled with the use of leveling blocks or length of 2x6 boards easily

You can leave quickly in an emergency with a MH vs You cannot leave quickly with a trailer due to the hitching up required
There is usually no desk area in a MH vs Most 5ers have nice desk areas

Motorhomes lose living area with dashboard/driver's area vs Trailers are all living space

Living room TVs are placed overhead over the windshield vs TVs are placed at a reasonable height and angle Edited 11/17/11: Motorhomes now have better TV placement on many rigs.

Motorhomes are much more expensive vs Trailers are more reasonably priced while equipped the same as a motorhome

Most motorhomes have only all-in-one washer/dryer combos vs Trailers have stacking washers and dryers

It can be difficult to find a repair location based on the size of the MH vs Any truck dealer can work on on your tow vehicle

If engine repairs are needed, you will probably need to stay in a motel vs You can stay in your trailer while your truck is being worked on

A diesel motorhome will ususally have the weight carrying capacity to add solar panels and batteries for boondocking vs Space and weight considerations may make installing the extra batteries needed impossible

Many motorhomes are affected by the draft created by passing semis and high winds in general vs Trucks pulling fifth wheel trailers are not affected by drafts and are much more stable while traveling on roadways under high wind conditions

Motorhomes have to be driven off your campsite to fill the onboard propane tank unless the campground provides a mobile propane servicevs Trailer propane tanks are removable for filling.


As a motorized vehicle some states may require your motorhome be inspected for annual registration purposes vs Trailers usually don't need to be inspected for registration purposes.

Motorhome tires are larger and therefore more expensive than trailer tires vs Even if you have a triple axle trailer your tire expenses will be less than of a motorhome.

Motorhomes are all one level once you get inside vs Fifth wheels can have at least one and possibly two sets of interior steps/levels inside which can become a problem as you age.

How Do You...?

When people discover we are full-timers, they ask very similar questions, with the most common question being "How do you get your mail?" So this section will attempt to answer some of those questions. If you have any questions or would like further clarification on any of the topics I've discussed, please feel free to e-mail me.
1. How do you get your mail?
2. Where do you bank?
3. How do you stay in touch with your family?
4. What did you do with your stuff?
5. How did you choose a home state?
6. Why did you switch to a fifth wheel from a motorhome?
7. Do you have a pet?
8. What's your favorite place?
9. What about the holidays?
10. Do you miss your house?
11. Do you boondock?  Stay in Wal*Mart parking lots?
12. Do you belong to a member campground?
13. What camping organizations do you belong to?
14. How do you decide where to travel?
15. Was it hard to adjust to being a full time rver?

How do you get your mail? This has to be the #1 question full-timers are asked by those curious about the lifestyle. We use the Escapees organization's mail forwarding service. They provide us with a street address and we have all of our mail sent to that address. Every week we notify the folks at the mail forwarding service of the campground's address where we'll be staying and they send out our mail in a large envelope. You can have your mail forwarded whenever you like; daily, weekly, bimonthly, monthly, whatever. Family Motor Coach Association offers the same service, as does the Good Sam organization and many other camping organizations, and there are private individuals and companies that offer the service as well. Many of these companies advertise in magazines that cater to the RVing lifestyle. One thing to remember is that the address you use can be your permanent address for tax purposes so you should take that into consideration also.


Where do you bank? Denny's pension check is direct deposited at our credit union in Ohio and we use our debit card for most of our purchases. We check online to find affiliate credit unions across the country so we can deposit checks and make withdrawals or use their ATMs without being charged a fee. Obtaining extra cash using the debit card is as simple as requesting extra cash back when you shop at Wal*Mart, any local grocery store or even the post office. Maintaining our accounts with our credit union from Ohio allows us the ability to obtain loans easily since we have been dealing with these folks for years and they know and remember us when we call. The Escapees organization is now affiliated with a credit union located in Livingston, Texas.
Certainly it would be possible for you to keep your original bank accounts if you would like or you can go with one of the many national bank chains so to be able to deal with branches across the country.


How do you stay in touch with your family? This has been made much easier with the advent of modern technology. When we first started RVing we had a cell phone in a "bag"-one that was permanently mounted in our motorhome. You paid by the minute and for every long distance call and there were also roaming charges every time you left your "home area". So a single quick phone call could cost $5-8 dollars for five minutes. Now of course, there are many carriers that provide nationwide coverage but we have been very pleased with our Cingular (now AT&T) service.

Our Internet access has changed over the years also. We originally used the phone lines at campgrounds, connecting through Earthlink service. But we found that many small campgrounds often had only one phone line and therefore were reluctant to allow you to tie up the line to download email, so we searched for a better option. Our next method of connecting to the Internet was when we purchased a laptop with a cellular modem card. We purchased a modem cable and connected the cell phone to the laptop and used our minutes to dial up the Earthlink service. After several years of connecting in that manner we discovered the DirecWay satellite system which opened up 24/7 Internet access for us. It is expensive at $59.99 a month, but we were able to switch to a cell phone plan with fewer minutes to lower that cost and we feel the availability of 24 hour a day Internet access is worth it. We use the Yahoo Messenger service that has voice and web cam capabilities to talk to and see our families and friends over the Internet and also to make inexpensive phone calls in areas where the cellular signal may not be strong enough for calls.

Another method of communication that our grandkids love is the personal postcards I create using our digital camera and our printer. These are much more personal than store-bought cards and often I'll set up our little tripod and use the manual timer on the camera to take a picture of "Grandpa and Grandma" at a national park or scenic area for them which they enjoy even more.

There are many methods of staying in touch with today's technology. Many cellular plans allow you to connect to the Internet directly now without connecting to a laptop, although text messaging is a bit cumbersome. Pocketmail is still a popular option; Pocketmail is a palm sized device with a screen and a keyboard that allows you to send and receive emails by holding the device to the handset of a pay phone or regular phone and dialing an 800 number which then transmits your e-mails and downloads any directed to you. It does not allow for surfing the Internet, but it's a quick and easy way to access your e-mail accounts. Of course, almost all libraries now have computers and Internet access which allows you to surf and get your e-mail, but your time is often limited there or you may have to sign up for a time slot to use one. It is rare for libraries to allow you to use your own laptop on their phone lines, so expect to compose your e-mails there.

Edited 11/12/11: Obviously this section was written several years ago—times have changed. While Denny and I still use our DirectWay/Hughes.net satellite dish for Internet access, air phone cards are the most common way for Rvers to have online Internet access these days. The company of choice for best coverage seems to be Verizon, which also gives you the choice of a standard air card or the “mi fi” card, which is also a wireless router so you can connect several devices to one air card. Technology continues to advance and while there is no perfect choice for Internet access (since air cards still have dead spots and satellite coverage depends on whether or not you have a clear shot to the southern skies) it is helpful that many campgrounds now offer wi-fi either at the individual camp sites or near the office or clubhouse. Usually the wi-fi is free near the office and more and more often it is now being offered free at the sites as many Rvers/campers now insist on the availability of Internet access while traveling.

And grandkids love Skype.

What did you do with your stuff? Making the decision early on to full-time after we retired allowed us time to get used to the idea that we would have to divest ourselves of our "stuff". So we were more careful about buying new items and we told our two sons to make a list of any and all of those items they wanted from the house with the knowledge that anything that was left was to be sold in a moving sale and the remainder after that would be donated to charity. And that's exactly how it worked when the house was sold and we were ready to go. I did box up some family Christmas ornaments and my smallish collection of Bohemian cut glass which are currently being stored in my mother's basement as well as our huge roll top desk which neither son had room for in their apartments. If my mother decides to move to a smaller place I'll probably sell the glass on eBay and give the kids the ornaments and the desk. After all, I haven't seen or used them in eight years, so I guess they really aren't that important anymore, right?
Edited 11/12/11: My mother passed away, I sold the art glass, divided the ornaments between the two sons, gave the desk to the youngest son to hang onto for us, stored a couple of boxes of family keepsakes in the basement of the youngest son and now all we own is what we carry in the rig. We hadn't seen the things we had packed away back in 1998 since that time, so obviously they weren't that important to us so we let them go.

How did you choose a home state? When we first started fulltiming we had every intent of using our Family Motor Coach Association mail forwarding address in Cincinnati as our home address, but when we purchased our first fifth wheel we were no longer eligible to be members and had to find a new mail forwarding service. We decided to use the Escapees mail forwarding service since Texas has no state income tax and no tax on intangible property. Other states with no state income tax are Florida, South Dakota, Washington, Nevada, Tennessee, Wyoming, Alaska, and New Hampshire. However, some of these states tax your dividend and interest income (intangible tax) and others may have private property taxes so you have to do your homework to see which would work best for you.


Why did you switch to a fifth wheel from a motorhome? Our first RV was a motorhome, purchased very spur-of-the-moment at a RV show with no research other than we knew the Winnebago brand name was reliable. Bad mistake. However, when we purchased our second RV it too, was a motorhome. I liked being able to fix a meal or sandwich while traveling, or to be able to use the bathroom without having to stop. Set up was easy and quick and it was no harder to drive than a our van to my way of thinking. Of course, back in 1993-94 there were no slides on motorhomes, so we adjusted to the "one-butt" kitchen and lived with the idea that Denny had to slouch a bit (he's 6'6") to pass under the ceiling mounted air conditioning unit. Then one day during a long Thanksgiving weekend we stopped at a RV dealer outside of Savannah, Georgia and stepped into an Alpha Gold fifth wheel. Wow! Triple slides and an eight foot ceiling meant no slouching for Denny and a huge amount of floor space and room in the kitchen area. The wheels started turning. Of course, when we fell into our deal on our 1999 King of the Road Royalite we had to purchase a truck so there was that additional expense, but we discovered that there was a significant savings on our insurance since we would have only one motorized vehicle, there would only be oil changes and engine maintenance on one vehicle instead of two, it was much easier to find a Ford dealer who could service a Ford F450 pickup than it was to find one who could service a 38 foot motorhome (our Bounder was on a Ford chassis so a Ford dealer had to work on it while under warranty). We lost a lot of storage space but gained a lot of floor space, a side-by-side refrigerator freezer with an ice maker and a stacking washer/dryer (which I wouldn't give up for the world, now). Most, if not all, motorhomes now have slide-outs, but they still don't have the room for a desk/office area as we have in our fifth wheel so I'd be hard pressed to change back. There are certainly advantages to motorhomes too but that might be the subject of another web page eventually. Denny and I do check out the motorhomes at RV dealers occasionally and have discovered that more of them are coming up with floor plans that include a desk/computer area and a more convenient, comfortable place for the living room televisions (not a fan of looking up towards the ceiling at the front of a motorhome to watch TV while sitting sideways on the couch.) But our reasons for switching to the 5er still stand.


Do you have a pet? We traveled with our cat when we first started fulltiming but did not replaced her after she passed away. We consider a cat the ideal motorhome pet since a cat does not need to be walked (especially in the rain) and if need be they can be left overnight in an emergency and they won't stuff themselves with their food in the morning and then starve the remainder of the day. We like dogs, but we've never owned one as a couple and we probably never will.

Edited 03/03/2007 If you read my blog at all, you will know that we added a cat to the household in May of 2006. We obtained Patches at the Baldwin County Animal Shelter in Robertsdale, AL as a kitten, hoping that by teaching her to ride in a noisy, diesel fueled pickup truck at a young age she would adapt to a life of constant travel. And so she has. However, if something happened to this cat, we would not replace her as having a pet does curtail your activities and freedom to come and go as you please, like wanting to take a cruise. We have discovered that cats do not kennel well. Lesson learned.


What's your favorite place? Ah, that's a tough one. We haven't found the perfect spot to settle down yet, but we've been to many memorable areas. We love the White Mountains of New Hampshire, the Gulf Shores, Alabama area, the red rocks of Sedona, Arizona and the Olympic Peninsula of Washington. Michigan's western shoreline amazed us with its clear waters and sandy beaches (who knew?) and we've grown to love the desert areas of Arizona and Texas in the springtime. This country is so amazingly diverse that you can't pick just one area as your favorite.

What about the holidays? We do return to Ohio for Christmas. Now that we winter out West it's much more expensive to return home as we leave our rig here rather than subject it to the rigors and hazards of winter driving and fly back. We have met many couples who do not return home for various reasons, usually because their children are spread all over the country and therefore they spend the holidays with other Rvers. I wish at times we could do that without guilt but it just won't happen. I would love to create a "Christmas in July" routine with our families which would allow us to return to Ohio and New York in warm weather and then stay in our favorite desert haunts in the winter. I think I'll have to work on that.

Edited 11/12/11: As of 2008, we no longer return to Ohio and New York for the Christmas holidays. It is strange and not the same, but the cold and snow are not our friends so we're sticking to spending the winters in warmer climes for now.

Do you miss your house? Not for a moment. We have almost all the amenities of our house, albeit on a smaller scale. We have the luxury of moving to a new location as often as we like and sometimes we have a lakeside or beachfront property for the cost of one night's camping fee. No, we don't have the big yard (no grass mowing/weeding/cultivating), the deck (no scraping/priming/painting), no gardens (no weeding/replacing flowers and bulbs/killing grubs), no work shop (no major maintenance/remodeling jobs) etc., etc. We've traded our old neighbors for new acquaintances and friends and have expanded our knowledge of geography, history, horticulture, culture and so much more. Miss our house? I don't think so. Okay, maybe the fireplace.



Do you boondock? Do you stay overnight in Wal*Mart parking lots? No and no. Our rig is not set up for solar power and does not have a generator, either or both of which are necessary for boondocking (camping without electric/water and sewer hook ups). Space and weight considerations eliminated the possibility of a generator and also the extra banks of batteries needed for solar power. We are quite content to camp at campgrounds every night and have budgeted for it. It would be nice to pull off some evening along the Pacific Coast Highway and spend the night by the ocean, but we have accepted the fact that we prefer to have hookups and electrical power to operate our computers and TVs. As for staying in Wal*Mart parking lots; we rarely travel more than 250 miles in one day so we're always ready to pull into a campground no later than 3 p.m. There is no reason for us to spend the night at a Wal*Mart as we are never in a rush to get to a particular location.


Do you belong to a member campground? Yes, we do although it took us six years of traveling before we bought into our first private membership campground. We waited until we had spent the winter in Florida, Texas and Arizona before we decided we liked spending the winter in Arizona the best and at that time we visited a private membership campground and decided to purchase a membership for use in the winter. A year later we purchased a membership with a corporation that had a much larger number of sister campgrounds in their organization so we had a larger number of campgrounds to choose from for our travels. They paid for themselves after about eighteen months of use.


What camping organizations do you belong to? Escapees, Good Sam Club, Passport America. We have membership with two private membership campground organizations which also give us access to the Golf Card and Golf Access for golfing discounts up to 50% on greens fees if we rent a golf cart. The Escapees have their own campgrounds and also have made arrangements with other campgrounds for their members to receive a 15% discount on campground fees. Good Sam affiliate campgrounds allow you a 10% discount on camping fees and with Passport America your camping fees can be discounted as much as 50%.


How do you decide where to travel? Our first year out we knew we were going to spend time at Myrtle Beach and then head south to Florida, so I researched what cities had golf courses that accepted the Golf Card and had campgrounds that accepted the Passport American discount. That worked well, so our first full year I used the same method, knowing we had to return to Ohio in the late spring for our youngest son's graduation from college and wanting to head to Maine from that point. Basically each year I pick an area we haven't explored yet and search all the campground books and golf discount courses for areas where we can take advantage of the cheapest rates and yet see places we've never traveled. Of course, life has a habit of getting in the way and our plans have changed due to family illness, death, child birth, graduations and weddings. We accept that none of our plans are written in stone and just go with the flow. So far that has worked for us.



Was it hard to adjust to being a full time rver? Honestly? Kinda. Actually, I personally found it harder to adjust to being newly retired rather than being a full timer. I was used to having a job, used to having my own money, used to having a lot of responsibility. Since I quit well before my retirement age/term of service I don't receive a pension yet so we manage on Denny's pension and his stipend from Social Security. Denny had been retired for six years by the time we hit the road so he had long ago dealt with the work separation issues. We had to learn to live on one income, we had to learn to live together in less than 400 square feet of interior space (spending the first two and a half months at Myrtle Beach after we hit the road helped there--I was outside a lot), we had to learn to live without 24 hour access to the Internet (not a problem these days), and Denny and I learned how to lean on each other more for friendship and emotional support since we no longer had the anchor of close family and friends. We left Ohio in September and by the time Thanksgiving rolled around we were very comfortable with the lifestyle and our decision. And fourteen years later we are still comfortable with that decision and the lifestyle.

The List--the Nicities

Slip stop Use slip stop to line your cupboards and you'll find that your dishes will slide around less. I also place it under my printer, coffee pot and other items on the desk top and counter that I want to remain in place.

Tension Rods Tension rods are helpful in your pantry and even as extra support in your refrigerator while traveling from campground to campground. Even with the best suspension you'll find that bumps in the road will jar items off your shelves that will be ready to attack once you open that cupboard door.

Hughes Autoformer The Hughes Autoformer boosts the voltage at your site when the voltage drops below 117 volts. In layman's terms, it evens out the power, reducing the possibility of spikes and brown outs, thereby reducing the possibility of damage to your electrical system. We like ours and believe in it but this past winter we have discovered two different campgrounds that have banned their use.

Sewer Solution This is Denny's favorite. It replaces the 3 inch floppy sewer hose. The Sewer Solution has no moving parts, but uses a water jet to break up waste and paper material from your black water tank and flushes it into the much smaller 1/2 inch hose. Denny has modified ours by eliminating the green hose and instead stores several different lengths of PVC pipe. He can brace these with blocks of wood or the hooked spikes he has created to allow for the proper slant for a proper flow of water. We have owned ours since 1995 and it still works as well as the day we received it.

GPS navigation system There are a variety of types of GPS systems for vehicles now. We have used a laptop, Street Atlas software and a GPS receiver to navigate in unfamiliar areas until the advent of the dashboard model of GPS systems. Since then we have had Magellan units and current use the Garmin unit made for truck routing since standard automobile routing sometimes takes you through the middle of towns that are hard to navigate with a thirty-eight foot long trailer. It's not perfect, to be sure and sometimes takes us a few miles out of the way to drive on “truck routes” rather than the more expedient route. I preplan our trips on the computer but there have been times that we have been rerouted on detours and it is very nice to have a mapping system that shows alternate routes or how to get back on track with the new GPS systems.

Tire pressure monitoring system This is an automatic system that involves a wireless monitor that you place on your dashboard and special air pressure monitors that are attached to your valve stems. After a year, we have had no air leakage with these and the system did prevent major damage when we had a blowout and the system's alarm went off immediately so Denny could slow down and get off the interstate. You can purchase extra sensors for as many tires as you have on your vehicle and RV or simply put them on your RV only. I should actually have placed these under the “necessities” category, especially for people with fifth wheels or trailers because it is harder to hear/see a blown tire when your RV is behind you.

Tire pressure monitoring valve caps Until we are ready to invest in an automatic tire pressure monitoring system, we are using these valve cap tire pressure monitors. They are sold in packages of 4 normally and are available for different PSI tire ratings. A quick glance at the color of the cap tells us if we've lost pressure in a tire. Edited 6/24/2007. We have removed our set of tire pressure monitoring valve caps due to the fact they were causing a slow leak in a couple of the tires.

Jack Stabilizers We purchased a set of JT Strong Arm Jack Stabilizers because we thought the mechanics of the idea were sound and it would eliminate having to carry around a king pin stabilizer. Denny thinks the stabilizers work fine, I'm not a fan. I believe the problem stems from the fact that our washer and dryer are installed in the nose of our fifth wheel, all the way to the front ahead of the jacks and that the movement from the spin action of the washer throws off the balance of the trailer enough that the jack legs and stabilizers move a bit which allows for more movement of the trailer itself after a few days. The installers admitted to us that they had to modify the way our set of stabilizers were installed due to the way our trailer chassis/frame was built so that could have something to do with the amount of movement that we still get while using these stabilizers also.

The List--the Necessities IMHO

You've bought a new motorhome, fifth wheel, travel trailer, pop-top, truck camper or variation thereof and the folks at the rv dealership threw in a package including a sewer hose, a water hose and some holding tank treatment. You're all set for your first camping experience in your rig, right? Well, let's just say you're off to a good start, but the list of equipment needed to make your rig and rving experience more comfortable and fun is a little more extensive than that. I've listed items that we consider necessary and those we consider helpful but not required for both a motorhome and a fifth wheel as we've owned a couple of each.

Shall we start from the bottom up?

The Necessities

Jack pads Made of polystyrene, polyethylene or a similar type of plastic, these square or round disks provide a wide base for your leveling jacks. This can be especially helpful when you are parked on a campsite that has had a lot of rain recently, or one that is paved with asphalt. We had our set made locally and asked that they drill a hole in the middle of each one so that we could use the hooked end of the awning puller to pull them out from underneath the rig.

Leveling blocks and/or leveling boards Leveling blocks are a set of plastic disks that you can stack at various heights to raise the wheels of your rig to the proper level. Even though you may have automatic hydraulic leveling jacks on your motorhome, there will be times that the jacks actually raise one or more tires off the ground when they level out the rig and this is when the blocks come in handy to support those wheels.

For a fifth wheel or travel trailer you'll find that carrying several lengths of 1" and 2 " thick boards will allow you to easily level out your rig by stacking the lengths to the proper height needed and driving up on them. Or you can carry a couple sets of the leveling blocks.

Water hoses Known as food-grade water hoses, these white plastic hoses are made of a special material that won't leach chemicals into your water. Regular garden hoses are not made for potable (drinkable) water and may contribute an unpleasant odor or flavor to your water. It's wise to carry at least two lengths of water hoses as the distance from your water hook up to your rig will vary from campground to campground and at times the hook ups can be quite far from your rig. We carry three sets.

Sewer hoses Like water connections, sometimes your sewer hook up ise not conveniently located so it is very wise to have an extra length or two of sewer hose. For ease of water/sewage flow, it's also wise to carry a set of “slinkys” or accordian style sewer hose supports. Some handy folks have created a sewer hose support from pieces of gutter or a section of PVC pipe cut in half length wise.

Power cords Your rig will come supplied with a standard length power cord, but like water hook ups, sometimes the electrical box is too far away to reach with one length so carrying an extension is a good idea.

Power Surge Protector This is now on our required list; after losing eight appliances to an electrical problem, we would not be without a power surge protector on our 50 amp power line now. It's a heck of a lot cheaper than replacing a lot of electrical equipment or even the cost of our insurance deductible charge. And when ours malfunctioned after six months (possibly due to a bad power outlet), the company replaced it free of charge.

Power cord adapters Many of the newer rvs now come with 50 amp circuitry due to all the gadgets included these days. Many of the older campgrounds have only 30 amp electrical service so you will need a 50 amp to 30 amp power cord adapter to be able to plug into the electrical box. There are also 30 amp to 50 amp adapters for those with 30 amp service in their rig who may find the rare campground that only provides 50 amp service. If you plan to travel in Canada, it would be wise to also have a 30 amp to 20 amp adapter as many of the campgrounds up north have only 15 to 20 amp electrical service at the sites.

Wheel chocks Even though you have a parking/emergency brake on your motorhome, having a set of wheel chocks is necessary as a back up in case of flat tires or blowouts on your rear braking tires while traveling.

Wheel locks While wheel locks are advertised for fifth wheels and travel trailers to prevent tire movement and to stabilize your rig, we also used one for our motorhome. It is the first thing put in place after we are satisfied with the rig's position when we've backed into/pulled into a site. If you have a set of these, you can forego the wheel chocks. On a fifth wheel or travel trailer these type of wheel locks really do make a difference in keeping movement down when you are walking around inside your rig.

Trailer stabilizer Placed between the tires on the opposite side of the fifth wheel from where we've place the wheel lock, the trailer stabilizer truly minimizes the front-to-back rocking that occurs when you move about in the rig. An alternative to wheel locks. This is the type of trailer stabilizer we currently use as it's quicker and easier to remove from between the tires.

King pin stabilizer Newer version come in a tripod design that seem to add even more stability, but we definitely notice a different in the sway of the rig when we don't put up the king pin stabilizer.

Hoppy level This is my personal favorite. This version of the Hoppy level swings outward so you can not only see the level of the rig from front to back but also side to side. However, the part I like is the round dial with the level on top; when you raise your fifth wheel to unhitch from your truck you set the dial so the bubble is level on the round dial leaving it in that position. You then raise or lower your rig to the proper level, but when you are ready to hitch up again, you return the rig to the height indicated by the round dial's level so there's no need to guess if you've raised the hitch far enough for the truck to back into it Neat, huh? There are many types of levels, including a very large one that many people attach to their king pin box, so what you use will be based on your personal preference. I simply prefer the convenience of having a level that checks both directions for me in one place.

Stepladder Whether you own a motorhome or a fifth wheel, you'll have to wash the exterior windows and you'll need a stepladder for that.

Large cleaning brush with a telescoping handle Many campgrounds have restrictions on washing of rigs and those that do allow you to clean your rig will normally require a brush and bucket for washing (instead of using a spray cleaner device).

Road service coverage There are many companies out there that provide road service coverage. We use Coach Net and have been very pleased with their response, as well as with our former coverage with Allstate Road Service. We only switched to Coach Net when we were given our first year free with our new rig in 2002 and we've used it several times since for flat tires/blow outs. Coach Net also claims to have 24 hour a day RV technicians on staff for advice by telephone when you are having problems but we've not used that part of the service. I think it is much wiser to leave the changing of a flat tire on a triple axle rig parked on the side of a busy highway in sleeting rain (no fun, believe me) to someone else. The $100 per year cost (it will be less your first year) will be worth it.

We Switch to a Fifth Wheel Capriciously

Fast-forward to November of 1999. Denny and I had officially been full time Rvers since September of 1998. We had just sold our 14 acres of property on a small lake near Seneca, South Carolina, so we were spending a week in Shorter, Alabama at the Wind Drift Campground after having completed the paperwork for the sale of the land. This is a tiny campground behind a gas station (they take the reservations and the fees) with a small pond, a new small recreation building with a modem access and nothing else but cows coming to drink at the pond in the evening. It's 20 miles from Montgomery, Alabama and that was our downfall; it was near RV dealers and we had time on our hands and money to spend from the sale of our land in South Carolina. We were hopping from RV dealer to RV dealer, simply checking out a variety of rigs, when we met Cliff Owen who worked at Alabama Motor Coach in Wetumpka, AL.

We were looking at a 35 foot King of the Road fifth wheel and liked most of what we saw except for the fact that it had green carpeting and green plaid recliners that had escaped from a 50s sitcom. Cliff asked us what it would take for us to buy the rig and I told him "new leather chairs" as I couldn't stand the plaid upholstery. He told us he had a friend who did upholstery work and he would have it done for us. Hmm. Back to our campground to discuss the possibilities. We didn't have a truck to tow with, I really didn't care for green, etc., but it was the last model on the lot as they were no longer going to carry the line. It seems it was too upscale for the area. They could sell Serengeti motorhomes for over $200,000 and little travel trailers for fish camping, but not the fifth wheels.

In the meantime, Cliff checked with a car dealer close to Shorter, who got on the computer looking for a truck for us. We specifically wanted a white Ford F450 medium duty pickup truck. The Ford dealer found one in Pensacola, Florida and he'd work out a deal to get it up to Alabama. Okay, we'll go for it. Alabama Motor Coach was going to do the chairs and last minute stuff and we can leave Roo (the Bounder) at their camp site on their grounds while we go home for Christmas, and then we can take all the time we need to switch our belongings from one rig to the other after Christmas. So now we owned a RV in which Denny could stand totally upright (he's 6'6" tall) as the fifth wheel has 8' ceilings. The ceiling height of the Bounder had been a problem for Denny since the ceilings were 6' 4” tall so he always had to stoop inside the motorhome.

Next we drive to the car dealer, give him a check to hold the truck in Pensacola (we had long ago checked out tow ratings for trucks pulling fifth wheels, assuming that eventually we'd switch over once we sold the land). Fine, that's done. We decided to drive down to Pensacola to look at the truck and make sure it had the options we needed to tow a large vehicle. This was a drive of 250 miles one way. We arrived at the Ford dealership, introduced ourselves to the manager of the truck sales division and told him why we were there. He got a really sick look on his face and told us he sold the truck yesterday as our car dealer back in Montgomery had not told him definitely that he wanted the truck and a buyer walked in with cash so the manager sold it to that buyer. Oh my god, now what? He immediately started checking the computer and there were no Ford F450s available in a six state area, unless we wanted to go to a Classy Chassis type vehicle at $70,000. I don't think so! He finally contacted Centurion Conversions in Michigan and they had our model with our options on their line; we put a deposit down with a sigh of relief.

It was time to head for Ohio to spend Christmas with our families.

You Can't Drive the Motorhome to the Grocery Store

If you are going to be traveling in a motorhome then it only makes sense to tow a vehicle to use to drive around town when your motorhome is parked at a campground or wherever you are staying. You have three choices; have your partner/spouse drive that second vehicle separately, use a tow dolly or install a tow bar/bracket on your vehicle and motorhome.

At the time of our purchase of the Vectra, we owned a 1992 Geo Metro convertible and a 1992 Mazda LX pickup truck. We discovered that the cost of buying a tow bar and a set of tow brackets for each vehicle would be about the same amount as buying a tow dolly. Since applying tow brackets meant modifying the vehicles, we went with the tow dolly. Unfortunately, we tried to save money by buying a homemade tow dolly, almost lost the Geo on the highway on the way to Indiana when the chains holding it to the tow dolly came loose and in the end, ended up purchasing a new Demco tow dolly. So saving money cost us money, but the Demco tow dolly worked wonderfully for both vehicles and we never had any problem with it.

I've fallen in love with a new car twice in my life; my 1988 Olds Cutlass Supreme (remember "it's not your father's Oldsmobile"?) and my 1997 Pontiac Sunfire convertible. Metallic teal blue with a white vinyl top and white interior, Denny and I loved to say "we look good in a convertible!" while driving around town. We purchased the Sunfire not only for its good looks, but for the fact that it could be towed with all four wheels down by simply putting the transmission into neutral and pulling one fuse for the odometer. We confirmed this not with the local salesman and service technicians (because they didn't know) but by contacting the engineers at Pontiac directly and getting a TSB faxed directly to us for confirmation.

While we could have used the tow dolly for "Sassy", we had gotten tired of hauling the tow dolly around and trying to find a place to put it in small camp sites, so we decided to switch over to a tow bar system. We knew we could order a system from Camping World and were willing to drive up to northern Ohio to have it installed, but first I needed to find a tow bar and bracket that would allow for installation without cutting into the front plastic cowling on the convertible. The Blue Ox tow bar fit the bill so we ordered it and told the installers at Camping World that if it wouldn't work they were not to install it as we didn't want any cutting on the car. Well, there was cutting involved in the end, but it was to the plastic mesh in the air vents below and the braces for the removable bracket would barely be visible. Yes! The installers also did a great job of wiring Sassy's taillights to be connected to the Bounder at the same time so we were set to travel in style.

We loved the ease of hooking up the Blue Ox towing system and we never had any problems with it. At the time we owned the motorhome, there were very few cars that were capable of being towed all wheels down as authorized by the manufacturers. The Sunfire was one and many of the Saturn brand vehicles were approved to be towed behind motorhomes and Class Cs, making them the "toad" of choice for RVers. Since then more vehicles have been approved for towing all four down, plus there are now after market transmission pumps and/or axle locks and drive shaft couplings that allow towed vehicles to be pulled behind a motorhome without causing damage to the transmission.

When Denny and I had our motorhome we relied upon the motorhome brakes to stop our Sunfire when towing it but it is now recommended that RVers use a separate brake system for their towed vehicle for safety reasons, especially when you are towing heavier vehicles such as trucks and minivans and large SUVS. Certainly if we still had a motorhome we would invest in a supplemental braking system for our towed vehicle if our motorhome did not have the capability of safely stopping in an emergency situation due to towing a vehicle.

For convenience in storage, connecting the towed vehicle and ease of use we'd go with the tow bar/bracket system every time.

A Year Later, A Second Motorhome

We used the Vectra for a few weekend jaunts and a business trip to New Orleans, but the idea of driving around on an overloaded chassis concerned us even though we no longer traveled with the fresh water tank filled. So we started our research anew and visited RV dealer after RV dealer, checking on different makes and models, comparing weight rating and size and quality, searching online forums for opinions and rants about the different models and discovered the motorhome we liked the best was the Fleetwood Bounder. In the back of our minds was the thought that we needed to find a motorhome that could possibly used as a full time home should we decide to eventually take that route. The Bounder certainly had the room and the storage space to be used in that capacity, however I absolutely refused to buy one because the interior came in one color; muddy brown. I finally explained my revulsion for that particular shade in a motorhome to a salesman in Cincinnati and he quickly pointed out to me that Fleetwood had just offered the 1994 model with a blue interior. Wow! I could get a rig that had a washer/dry combo, a separate ice maker, tons of cabinet space and an attractive blue interior. We'll take it! Oops! One proviso; once the rig arrived from the factory it had to be weighed at a local truck stop scale and we had to see the certified weight slip before we signed the final paperwork to purchase the rig. The dealer agreed, it was done and we had a rig that had oodles of carrying capacity with its tag axle chassis.

One thing about the RV Vagabonds, our mistakes are never cheap. But this time around, we had done our homework. That is, as much could be done in a time where the Internet was just being noticed and there were all of two books out there about the full time Rving lifestyle.

Jumping In With Both Feet

As I mentioned in our About Us page, we purchased our 1993 Winnebago Vectra after seeing it displayed at a RV show. We read up briefly on major RV manufacturers, gross vehicle weight ratings/capacity, price comparisons, etc. but since the Vectra was a new model we had only the company's spec sheets to go by. The salesman assured us we had plenty of carrying capacity and we loved the luxurious appearance of the interior so we bought the Vectra.

Having brought the Vectra home and parked it in the driveway to the rear of the house, the next step was to furnish the rig so it would be ready to go at a moment's notice. I decided that I was not going to lug clothes, pots and pans, linens and food back and forth between house and rig for any trips, so we purchased new kitchen ware including Corelle dishes (I wanted nice things that would be durable and lightweight), linens, stocked the pantry with canned goods and filled the closet and cupboards with a couple of weeks' worth of clothing. We were all set to make our first trip to Panama City Beach, taking along our then 15 year old son, Darby.

As we set off for Florida, we made a detour to stop at the gravel pit to have the Vectra weighed on their truck scale. We had a full tank of gas, a full fresh water tank, three adults and a week's worth of supplies and weighed out at 500 pounds in excess of our gross vehicle weight capacity. Shocked and angry we headed south.

We took two days to get to Panama City Beach and chose the Raccoon River Resort as our campground as it was one block from the beach. We provided entertainment for our neighbors by managing to get the awning hung up on a tree branch as we were pulling into our campsite, necessitating some back and forth maneuvering to break loose from the branch without causing any more damage than the initial first scrape. Fingers were pointed, voices were raised and Darby escaped by putting on earphones and cranking up his Walkman, but we were finally in our site. The neighbors provided advice on hooking up our utilities since we were obviously newbies and we were invited for "happy hour". While we passed on that first day's happy hour, we did join in the next day which is how we learned about the lifestyle they called “fulltiming”. The couple beside us and the one behind us turned out to be brothers and each couple had been on the road for several years. One couple had sold their home and had no desire to purchase another one, while the younger brother and his wife maintained an apartment but rarely used it. They were lively and entertaining and so eager to pass on information that we felt fortunate we had chosen this campground as we were learning just by listening to them.

"Hmm," we said, "fulltiming..."

The Background Info

For those interested, in our pre-full timer's life we both worked for the Kettering Police Department. Denny was a patrolman and also worked as a detective in violent crimes. Linda was a civilian police dispatcher. We met at work and married after a few years, each of us bringing a son into the family.

When the City of Kettering told Denny that after twenty-five years of service they would send his paycheck home to him he jumped at the chance to retire. He retired at age 53 in June of 1992. I, unfortunately, needed to work 30 years to earn my retirement so I ended up freezing my pension eleven years shy of my retirement date in September of 1998 so we could travel while we were healthy. Thus we travel on one pension until I reach age 60.

We purchased our first rig, a Winnebago Vectra, in 1993 after seeing it at a RV show at the Hara Arena in Dayton, Ohio. We had gone to the RV show simply as a way to relieve the boredom of a snowy winter's day and came home excited about these "homes on wheels". On our next day off we drove to Cincinnati to look at the Vectras again and ended up signing on the dotted line. I had never been camping a day in my life but I thought that this would be a wonderful way to "rough it"! Since that first motorhome purchase we have owned a 1994 Fleetwood Bounder, a 1999 King of the Road Royalite fifth wheel 2002 National RV Palisades fifth wheel and a 2002 National RV Palisades fifth wheel. Our current rig is a 2011 Heartland Landmark Grand Canyon fifth wheel. More on that later.

Our original plan had once been to retire to our 14 acres of lakeside property in South Carolina, but once we bought that first motorhome we started thinking about traveling instead. We set a tentative date to start fulltiming as the year after our youngest son graduated from college, but when he married his love in his junior year of college everything changed. So in a mad rush I spent six months at a local beauty college to train and get my license as a nail technician, we sold the house, I quit my position two days later and a week after that we were officially fulltimers on our way to Myrtle Beach and a whole new lifestyle. That was September of 1998 and we haven't looked back since. If you have any questions you would like to ask, feel free to contact us at vagabrauns (at) gmail (dot) com.