Barbaraok

I said out of pocket expenses. Our annual dues are $1000 which includes our Thousand Trails, our home park (Blue Mesa, in Colorado) and ROD/AOR/C2C. There is no additional fees. Would be lower but we have added the Trails Collection because we can stay in several Encore parks (company that owns TT) for 2 weeks at a time often $0/night (like Tall Chief, just east of Seattle) or in places like the San Francisco RV Resort in Palisades (just south of SF) for $20/night (normally $100/night). We will have over 100 nights in membership parks out of the 180 nights that we travel. When we full timed the number of nights was considerably higher. This works for us because we spend most of our time on the west coast which has the largest concentration of membership parks in the country (Thousand Trails started in Washington state). Our initial buy-in was covered within 1 year of beginning fulltiming - - again, we spend most of our time out west. It works for us because we USE them. What would your friend's cost for a hotel have been for his week skiing? If he goes several years, then he will probably be ahead. THE key is USE and that's what several people don't understand. My BIL and his wife have a time share and she works the system and they have trips they enjoy at very little cost - but she USES AND WORKS the system. Most people don't. They buy on a whim, don't use like they should and tire of going to the same areas. If we spent most time in the east then it wouldn't be as advantages to us as it is (thought we have used membership parks in just about every state we've spent any significant time in. I will assume that you didn't mean to call me a liar.

Obviously you are always near larger cities. Try being in Birch Bay, WA, or Monroe, WA, or at the Timber Valley Co-OP in Sutherlin, OR, or ..... I would love to be able to stream - but in reality it just isn't possible to be sure that you have that ability all of the time.

I had two requirements for our DP. Mid door and washer/dryer. Have never regretted either decision. Only thing I couldn't do in ours was heavy blankets. And they only need to be done once in a while, so when visiting relatives, that is what I would do. Over the years learned when it was absolutely necessary to use a Laundromat (rig in for service, stay at park without sewer hookup) but that was it. SINCE THIS WAS IN THE ORIGINAL POST, WHY THE H*LL IS EVERYONE TRYING TO CONVINCE THEM THAT THEY CAN DO WITHOUT? I just don't get it!

Are you looking to keep it plugged in? If not, look for storage facilities with room for RVs, empty frig, park it, throw battery disconnects and go.

It isn't just the mention of TT, but the mention of anyone buying any membership (new or used) that brings forth a deluge of "facts" that people have heard from their 3rd cousins best friend - all based upon some practices that have long sent been eliminated by court orders. You did a very good job of summarizing why some of us have, and USE, our memberships in order to save money. And the key is the USE part.

That you can't see the value doesn't mean it isn't valuable to others with different styles of RVing. We're in the PNW for the summer and we will have out-of-pocket expenses (June-August) of $152 or so. Most weeks will be $0 out of pocket.

Yes, every manufacturer will have a procedure for putting out and pulling in slides that needs to be followed.

Lou is correct - the effect of not having somewhere for that air to go can REALLY slow things down. Just opening an overhead vent will give all that air room to move out of the rig when bringing in a slide and will allow air to easily move in when putting out a slide.

Not if you have a 100 gallon fresh water tank. 😉 dump ours at RV park in Mesa in April, 5 minutes later ground is dry. Use for first part of travel, so when about 1/2 full dump rest of Mesa water and fill with good Washington state water. 😎. Repeat yearly.

TT often runs a 2 zones for price of 1, which is a great way to see if it will work for you. Yes, if you use them you can save money. Since we are on West Coast we save thousands each year.

When our MH is in storage for the winter, we run the generator (every 6 weeks or so) for about an hour before the batteries go to float. Never, ever had to run it for hours to get to float even when we had lead-acid batteries.

Spot, if you know you could make good use of having memberships in your tool bag, what is the hang up? Turned around, how would it hinder your travels? We have the trails collection added. Stayed at the San Francisco RV Park in Pacifica, for $20/night. Easy public transportation into SF. Savings for one week paid for dues. We use membership parks about 100 nights for the year and move every week or two during the summer.

So the location of those parks are dictating where you go. It is all about finding what works for you. BTW - I have never, ever, figured out why people think having a park membership (with associated affiliate membership) dictates where you go. If there is one in the area we are going to be in, we book in there. If there isn't, we use PPA, Escapees, city/county parks, etc. Just like everyone else. It is just ANOTHER tool in our bag to use.

You tie a cat UNDER your rig and then at age 3 turn it loose? I suppose you leave it out overnight? Dinner for any larger predator walking by? Don’t feed cat regularly so it hunts more? If there are that many critters maybe move to a better site? Should we ask if you get vaccinations and neutering done? Get, use, discard - that’s your operating theory with cats? 🤬🤬🤬

If you are on the west coast, I would suggest you try a 1 year TT zone pass (or if you time it right get the 2 for 1 and get all of the west coast at one price). This will allow you to try a number of the TT parks rather cheaply and decided if memberships are a good deal for you. I'm in Birch Bay, Washington right now at a ROD/C2C park. Just left 2 weeks at TT park near Seattle, next week will go on to another TT park for 2 weeks, then one to an AOR park for 2 weeks, than to another Encore park. We love the area (went to college in Bellingham, WA) and so have very little 'out-of-pocket' costs for the summer, just our annual dues. The month of August will be at BIL's (who put in hookups for us) and then all of September will be again in membership parks. This works for us because membership parks are so numerous throughout the west. Now these aren't 5 star resorts, but then we don't see the parks as our 'destination' where we spend all of our time, but rather our 'place to sleep' as we explore the areas, visit favorite spots, etc.

Our cardiologist was 48 (in practice with his 70+ yr old father), no family history of heart disease, in great physical shape, out mountain biking with teenage son and had a massive heart attacked and died.

If you are thinking about TT then it is RPI to go with it. A no brainer of sorts.

No, you register in the county where you will be located. Luckily Polk County makes it easy. Here are the forms for passenger car and motorhome (which are on the Escapees.com website) and there is a number to call. The folks in Polk County know how to do this by mail. Couldn't be nicer, easy to work with, even sent me a check back when I overpaid a little. Read through these links and call them if you have any questions. You can also go to the Texas DMV website and download the forms, which can be filled in on the computer and then printed and sent in. https://www.escapees.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/Passenger_Car.pdf https://www.escapees.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/Motorhome.pdf

I remember 50 as being the year for black balloons, black streamers, etc. 40 - just hitting my stride!

And you will be a year closer to limited mobility or death. I am so glad we took early retirement. We couldn't do today (13 years later) what we could do when we first retired. More money doesn't mean more happiness or ability to enjoy what you have worked so hard to accumulate. So many friends have died working that "extra year or two" and never got to enjoy anything.

No, Arizona doesn't consider us residents because we spend less than 7 months a year there. We weren't staying extended winter months in 2010, when the last census was done. Will we fill out our census forms listing Arizona next year, I suppose so if we are there on the Census day. And yes, the issue was being counted in a state you stopped for an overnight in while traveling. During the first few years we moved at least every two weeks, if not sooner. So we didn't have a place where we spent more time than any other place - listing a spot we stopped for the night deprives our 'hometown' of some federal funds. Rather those funds (yes, I know, it will amount to pennies) go to a county that supports fulltimers than somewhere we were just passing though.

It is possible to drive through a state and not spend a dime, especially one of the smaller ones. And it is possible to even purchase A LOT in Oregon and not spend any money on sales tax - since they don't have one. That's where we buy tires for our rig, new computers, etc.

Why should some state where I pay no taxes whatsoever, get revenue sharing funds based upon my driving through rather than the state that provides some services to me (being able to vote is one of those services)?

Blues, did you look at the form? It came PREADDRESSED. The only question on the short form asked if the person stayed in another lodging. We stayed every single night in the same home. Technicallity - yes, but then everything about fulltimers is about the fact that we don't fit in any specific "correct" hole - we're square pegs. If I vote in district #36, then I damn well want my presence in district #36 counted.

Because we've been out all day and want to watch a ballgame (even when the Rangers are losing) or Masterpiece Theater, or a science program or just listen to smooth jazz on DirectTV station 851. And we aren't on vacation - we are living in our RV every day. We didn't do that when we only had a 2 week vacation.