How are the RV parks faring?

4X4Dodger wrote:

qtla9111 wrote:
We have reduced and almost stopped our travel to the U.S. I'm going to Dallas today and at the McAllen airport. I can't wait to return back home. Minimum wage hasn't changed in over six years but as said above, the prices are skyrocketing.

Fuel is low right now and we don't know for how long but rv parks, services, food, grocery shopping for a gringo mexicano is prohibitive.

The funny part is, everyone says the economy is on a roll yet all we saw last year on our way to Canada via the U.S. was extreme poverty and unemployment. I wonder who's earning all the money. It is a fact that rv manufacturing in the TT sector is up but fifth wheels and other classes are down. Maybe because TTs are cheaper.

Just my observation. I wanted to go to New Mexico but it's not worth the hassle of crossing the border and the other expenses listed above. I think we're heading to Mazatlan.

I think your statement is a bit overblown and inaccurate. Not only did the federal minimum wage get raised many states and localities have raised the minimum wage to $15 per hour. Many companies reading the writing on the wall have raised starting salaries in advance of further legislation. Your statement is just not accurate.

As for "extreme poverty" in the states...this sounds like Canadian hyperbole to me. I have traveled all over this country and almost everywhere I see signs begging for workers, sign on bonuses of $500 and $1000 dollars for entry level jobs. I see the malls full of people buying all kinds of stuff, car sales are at an all time many year high. Unemployment is at historic lows. Home sales are booming in all but a few locales.

As a business man who has owned large and small companies both here and over seas I often stop and talk to the managers of gas stations and other small businesses. Their biggest complaint...Cant get employees. they tell me all the time that between the background check and the drug tests few can qualify. This is part of the unemployment picture that most dont understand. It is a self imposed unemployment based on lifestyle choices.

As for your assertion that some sectors of the RV market are down you should visit the web site of the RVMA you will see that ALL types of RV's are seeing record orders from dealers. And sales are very strong. Many RV manufacturers, including those that make 5th wheels and Motor Homes are building new factories to meet the expected demand.

I think too many people listen too much to 24 hour news channels with political agendas and never bother to find out the facts for themselves. The picture you paint may be quite appealing but it's not reality.

You sound very American.

iguana07 wrote:
Not sure I agree with prices skyrocketing if you are talking about U S
The U S inflation rate for this year is .02%

x2 exactly....where DO they get these ideas? In fact the FED has been agonizing over raising the interests rates. But there is no reason to as there is virtually NO inflation.

I really dont understand this constant whining by our good Canadian friends about Mexico being so expensive.

Good grief. Canada is more expensive than the States in almost everything. Mexico is much cheaper than the states.

I can quote any number of costs that shed light on this.

Gas is about the same cost in Mexico as it is in Canada in US DOLLAR TERMS per Gallon. So what is the beef? You cross the border and gas is generally cheaper, except for maybe North Dakota and California.

This issue was brought home to me a few days ago in San Ignacio when a Canadian Lady was complaining about how expensive the RV park we were in was. I was a bit taken aback. It was a good deal. 200 pesos for full hookups is what I paid.

She claimed that she was paying $30 US dollars! Wait I said how can that be? How many pesos did you pay? She said $300. Ok I said 100 pesos is about $6 us dollars so 300 is not thirty dollars but about $18. she got an odd look on her face and said well we only get 12.64 pesos to the dollar. Ok then $23 Can dollars...where can you stay in Canada for that?

But if they had negotiated a lower price as I did from 300 to 200 pesos they could have paid only about $16 dollars CANADIAN.. Which the owner offered very quickly. Perhaps it was because I was speaking Spanish or just asked for the discount?

Mexico is not expensive, It is actually quite cheap. It's how you travel that makes the difference. We don't scrimp and watch every dollar either. But when I can buy good wine at $4 per bottle and a great lunch of shrimp cocktail, two entrees and 4 margaritas for $18 dollars US...you find me ANYWHERE in CANADA where you can do that. Or for that matter the US.

Nope Mexico is still cheap. Maybe not the deal it once was but still a very good one.

qtla9111 wrote:
We have reduced and almost stopped our travel to the U.S. I'm going to Dallas today and at the McAllen airport. I can't wait to return back home. Minimum wage hasn't changed in over six years but as said above, the prices are skyrocketing.

Fuel is low right now and we don't know for how long but rv parks, services, food, grocery shopping for a gringo mexicano is prohibitive.

The funny part is, everyone says the economy is on a roll yet all we saw last year on our way to Canada via the U.S. was extreme poverty and unemployment. I wonder who's earning all the money. It is a fact that rv manufacturing in the TT sector is up but fifth wheels and other classes are down. Maybe because TTs are cheaper.

Just my observation. I wanted to go to New Mexico but it's not worth the hassle of crossing the border and the other expenses listed above. I think we're heading to Mazatlan.

I think your statement is a bit overblown and inaccurate. Not only did the federal minimum wage get raised many states and localities have raised the minimum wage to $15 per hour. Many companies reading the writing on the wall have raised starting salaries in advance of further legislation. Your statement is just not accurate.

As for "extreme poverty" in the states...this sounds like Canadian hyperbole to me. I have traveled all over this country and almost everywhere I see signs begging for workers, sign on bonuses of $500 and $1000 dollars for entry level jobs. I see the malls full of people buying all kinds of stuff, car sales are at an all time many year high. Unemployment is at historic lows. Home sales are booming in all but a few locales.

As a business man who has owned large and small companies both here and over seas I often stop and talk to the managers of gas stations and other small businesses. Their biggest complaint...Cant get employees. they tell me all the time that between the background check and the drug tests few can qualify. This is part of the unemployment picture that most dont understand. It is a self imposed unemployment based on lifestyle choices.

As for your assertion that some sectors of the RV market are down you should visit the web site of the RVMA you will see that ALL types of RV's are seeing record orders from dealers. And sales are very strong. Many RV manufacturers, including those that make 5th wheels and Motor Homes are building new factories to meet the expected demand.

I think too many people listen too much to 24 hour news channels with political agendas and never bother to find out the facts for themselves. The picture you paint may be quite appealing but it's not reality.

Not sure I agree with prices skyrocketing if you are talking about U S
The U S inflation rate for this year is .02%

The peso may be 12 to the loonie but it does not buy as much as say 3 years ago Fuel,tolls, meat and even veggies are up. Just like NOB. But we shouldn't all be one of those Chicken Little old buggers. Things change. You can never go home!

Moisheh

It may be more expensive than it was, but the US dollar buys a lot. As a Canadian spending Canadian dollars I'm better off here than in the USA where the Canadian dollar is about 75¢ US. looking the other way, If I put $10.00 on my card $1.37 comes out of my bank account. The only savings is perhaps fuel.

In Mexico the peso is pretty close to what it has been over the past few years at just over 12 pesos to the Canadian dollar. It's almost 17 to the greenback. And here fuel is expensive, diesel @ 14.02 pesos per liter.

Tolls also are very high here. I think we paid about 4,000 pesos between Laredo and Zihuatanejo.

edit to correct typo; price of diesel.

What I'm getting out of the discussion is that Mexico used to be rustic, scenic and a bargain, and now it's run-down but also developed, and expensive. Is that a fair take on it?

Judging by the deserts of AZ, for many RVers, cheap costs outweigh shortfalls of ambiance and amenities.

Last Christmas we had a reunion of 20 people in southern California who wintered in RV's into Mexico for years, boondocking south of PV. None returned last winter. Some are not even going back to the desert this winter. They remember the cheap Mexican fuel, reasonable toll roads, and RV Parks that may not have been out of this world, but were down to earth. Mexico is more expensive, bargains are unusual compared to the old days. And speaking of old, that is what many RV'ers have become if they're RV'ers now, at all.

We have reduced and almost stopped our travel to the U.S. I'm going to Dallas today and at the McAllen airport. I can't wait to return back home. Minimum wage hasn't changed in over six years but as said above, the prices are skyrocketing.

Fuel is low right now and we don't know for how long but rv parks, services, food, grocery shopping for a gringo mexicano is prohibitive.

The funny part is, everyone says the economy is on a roll yet all we saw last year on our way to Canada via the U.S. was extreme poverty and unemployment. I wonder who's earning all the money. It is a fact that rv manufacturing in the TT sector is up but fifth wheels and other classes are down. Maybe because TTs are cheaper.

Just my observation. I wanted to go to New Mexico but it's not worth the hassle of crossing the border and the other expenses listed above. I think we're heading to Mazatlan.