We are members of several on-line RV sites & one of my favorites is the RV Net Open Roads forum. http://www.rv.net/forum/index.cfm Lots of helpful RV related topics & just about something for everyone. A lot of people are either on the road at the moment heading south, are already there, or are packing their RV's & heading out shortly. I would say most of the snowbirds are heading for the same destinations they go every year & probably 80% of those places are RV parks. The main attraction of course is the warm weather followed closely by the availability of golf courses, restaurants, shopping malls, park amenities, friends & neighbors. Some people even convoy down to-gether & then stay side by side for the winter. And side by side in an RV park is really what it means. You are generally very closely packed in with not much room to spare.
Kelly & I have stayed in State Parks, BLM lands, & various RV parks. We even stayed in Slab City California for 3 nights last year. We like the State Parks because there is generally far more room & the Park is usually centered around some kind of an outdoor theme so they are always very interesting . Hiking paths, caves, forests, rivers, waterfalls, rock scrambling, etc. BLM lands (Bureau of Land Management) are our favorite of course. They are free in California for as long as you want to stay. Arizona has a loosely governed 14 day limit before moving to a different location. And then we come to RV parks. Even at the end of a long tiring day on the road I have been known to pull into an RV park, drive through, & roll right back out onto the highway again. Sooooo many units in sooooo little space!!
I just can't imagine living in such crowded conditions for 5 or 6 months of the year. We stayed in an RV park in Yuma last winter for one night on our way to Borrego Springs & we couldn't wait to get out of there in the morning. Maybe we are both claustrophobic or something but we felt like a couple of sardines. The park owner actually came out & had me move the right front wheels of the rig over about 4 inches because apparently we were not perfectly square on the cement pad. We walked around the park that night looking at all the Christmas lights people had out. Very pretty of course but we just couldn't get over how crowded to-gether all the units were.
And, that brings me back to the blogs title....Luckily, We Still Have A Sense Of Adventure!! I have thought about this a lot over the past 4 years as we have traveled here & there to various locations in different States. How really fortunate Kelly & I are that we share the same interests & ideas about traveling. We're convinced that there must be some wayfaring explorers in our past. Maybe a little gypsy blood & I'm sure I've got some cowboy in me from somewhere long ago too. Was always fascinated with old western movies as a kid & always paid particular interest to the majestic scenery in the backgrounds. I think right from the first day Kelly & I met, we recognized those adventurous qualities in each other & from then to now our goals have been the same. To travel free with no confining time limits, to wander at our leisure with no hard & fast destination at the end of the day. To wake up in the mornings, step out of the rig & watch the sunrise creep over the mountains casting long saguaro cactus shadows across the desert floor. Listening to the Gila woodpeckers & house wrens close by & the distant calling of coyotes. No crowding here, no human sounds, no pressure & no commitments. Stay for a couple of days, weeks, or months. Hike & explore all the areas near by & take short day trips by car to other points of interest. So many mountain trails to walk & so many canyons to venture into. The American Southwest is a fascinating place with all it's history & tales to tell. Beautiful scenery all day, every day, & to really appreciate it you have to get right out there & live right in it. No neighbors a few feet away, no shopping malls down the street, & no fancy restaurants around the corner. No traffic, no pollution, & best of all...........no crowds of people!!
We don't know how many years we have left to enjoy this way of life that we have missed for so many years but while we still have our health & a couple extra dollars in our pockets we fully intend to make the most of it while we can.
Now, lets hurry up & get this show on the road............puleeeeeeeeeeeeze!!
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I second your opinions of most RV parks. The old adage, "95% of anything is pure crap," might be a bit optimistic when applied to RV parks. Still, there are a few good ones.
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