You SNOWBIRDS have it too good.

During the winter Texas, Florida and Arizona are all full of folks from the cold country and the campgrounds bend over backwards to offer a lot of activities. I read that the REAL snowbirds have potluck dinners, dances, workshops, tours, meetings and all kinds of stuff during the winter when they escape the weather. I read that the areas around the campgrounds offer all kinds of discounts, and even celebrate the return of the snowbird. The campgrounds are full of folks that don’t like snow and cold weather and that they have a great time socializing.

So what is my point?

Today is Thursday and here we set. The clubhouse and office closes at 6pm everyday. There were about 160 campers here over the 4th but at this time I can count 12 in the campground. I was thinking if this is the way it is for full or part-timing during the summer; it might not be worth the effort. I would like to ESCAPE THE HEAT. We live in Florida so do not have to leave during the winter, but the summer months of June-Sept are really hot and we would like to go where it is cool. Where are the SUMMERBIRDS suppose to escape to? We in the south would like to find places in the north that treat us like the folks in Texas, Florida and Arizona do the snowbirds. I want potluck dinners, dances, workshops, tours, meetings and all kinds of stuff offered by the campground just like you folks get. The bad part is I don’t see where this is happening. Please advise if you know.

quote:

The bad part is I don’t see where this is happening. Please advise if you know.

I don't know of "reverse snowbird" parks that offer as many "things" as the winter parks do. But I do know of nice parks where you can go to escape the heat. I work in one now. At the moment - 1020 hrs - it is sunny, 69* and 21% humidity. No wind. Free wifi. 18 miles from a major city with all the shopping in the world, 8500' in the mountains of CO, with a WalMart, City Market, and Safeway within (max) 2 miles, and a hospital within 3 miles. Ambulance across the street. Pot lucks and activities, but no workshop. Half the park is seasonal, half is transient, but many of those are monthly.

Diamond Campgrond, Woodland Park, CO.

Picasa album here

JAXFL.....Try here for summer activities. http://www.hartranchresort.com/daily_activities.html

I'm not a member, and have never been there, but I'm sure others can elaborate.

regards
Gemstone

We arent thrilled with summer camping alternatives. Most cg's in the upper midwest are outdated, overpriced and attempt to cater to the entire spectrum of the RV world. Which includes unsupervised children and their parents on a "camping weekend", all surrounded by a smoking campfire.

In our search for cg's in the upper midwest we have yet to find a cg that caters only to the 55+ group. I am not sure that one could even survive based on pure economics and the traveling patterns of the 55+ age group.

We are already looking forward to getting back to our winter RV resort!!

PS the kiddie train in the above link would be enough warning for us to remove it from consideration.

JAXFK,

When I passed through Colorado two years ago I saw that there were several nice looking campgrounds that offered monthly or seasonal rates and a load of summertime activities. Yes, even Potlucks.

Sounds like the cool high country of Colorado will fill the bill for you.

Steve Ball
USN Ret.

The Hart Ranch Resort is a fantastic campground, it is possibly the best campground that you might ever stay in. The inner roads are all concrete as are the pads. The hookups are all below ground, under a steel lid, so that the grass can be cut with a mower without the need for a weedeater. I very much enjoyed my stay. But, in summer it can be very hot. It is not at all unusual to see 90's and above. The humidity levels can be very changeable.

I am in the UP of Michigan, close to Sault Ste. Marie. The capgrounds here have tours, potlucks, and a nice clubhouse. The temps are warm 82 today sunny and a bit humid, thats today, tomorrow is expected to be in the 70's and less humid. I also like Colorado, and Oregon for summers. george

JAXFL, Great post!

I guess for some of us all these activities are not that important. We rarely partake in them. If we need some entertainment we get on a forum and there is always something going on.

Thanks Jack, George1.

My wife and I love the activities - card games, pot lucks, etc. We find it is a great way to meet people and fellowship. Keep the ideas coming.

I’m a native Texan and the older I get the less tolerant I am of the brutal summers in that part of the country, so we make a point of leaving when it starts getting warm. We’ve never had a problem finding a place to volunteer in a cool climate during the summer.

As for activities, have you ever initiated a potluck yourself? We invite other RVers (strangers to us) to our site to share food, a glass of wine or a campfire. These sessions often go well into the evening, with lots of friendly talk and laughter. Sometimes real friendships develop.

My late husband used to bring me flowers frequently. A while after he died I was feeling sorry for myself and thinking about how much I missed that. It dawned on me that (DUH!) there was no reason I couldn’t buy flowers myself, and suddenly I had fresh flowers in the house again any time I wanted to make the effort to get them.

Art brings me flowers now, but if he didn’t - no problem. I know how to drive, and I most assuredly know how to spend money on things I enjoy!

My point is, create your own fun instead of waiting for someone else to organize the things you want to do.

Bev

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Good point, and yes WE do. Sometimes we even organize a rally.

When we headed north for the summer we usually looked for pretty areas to stay with activities like fishing or just sitting under a pine tree.

For social activities we'd hit an Escapee summer rally or a local Escapee chapter rally, there were usually several close to us.

quote:

I would like to ESCAPE THE HEAT. We live in Florida so do not have to leave during the winter, but the summer months of June-Sept are really hot and we would like to go where it is cool. Where are the SUMMERBIRDS suppose to escape to?

Exactly why we left Jacksonville in May . Since this is our 1st trip as fulltimers, we decided to do the New England thing to find cooler weather. As we sit in Exeter, NH the temp is 90 degrees ( has been all week) and to us that's too hot. We tried Bay Harbor, ME for a few days, but very pricey up there too. We'll stay here in NH until mid Oct. to see the leaves turn, and winter over in Jax this year. We'll try our luck up in CO, SD or ND for the summer next year to look for cooler temps. As they say: We're chasing 70!

PS- RV parks up here aren't cheap!

We are on our second year FT and since the sticks haven't sold yet we are back in northern Wisconsin right on the MI. state line. the weather this summer is great, mid 70s to very low 80s during the day and 55 to 59 at night for the last few weeks. Rain about every three days and light winds and dry. If it gets too hot here we just go to northern MN. But nice area and most of the CGs are in the low 20s for full hookups... Dave and Betsy

Steve & Kathy, When planning your summer you might want to look at something like this for the areas you are interested in.

www.wunderground.com seasonal info

Also keep in mind altitude is your friend, check Phoenix, Camp Verde and Flagstaff here in AZ to see what a few thousand feet will do.

Arizona satellite map