Forum Discussion

riah's avatar
riah
Explorer
Aug 26, 2022

snowbird season/route to use west towards Az via TX from Fl

We have reservations for 6 weeks starting mid December through end of January at TT Orlando and Peace River. After that we are thinking of heading west towards Arizona via Texas.

What routes would you suggest? Where would you stay?

We have a legacy TT membership with 60 parks (TT, NACO, LTR) but there’s nothing really until Texas for camping though that TT membership plan.

Hence, where would you suggest for reasonable priced stays until we get into Tx and can use our legacy membership where we can stay for $5 a night with our new to us Alliance membership - as we will have used up all but the 50 “free” nights the plan allows for and then we pay $5 a night…it’s a trade off for scoring the 210 day (7 month) booking window and the additional holiday and high use reservations at those 60 parks; we could upgrade and gain the unlimited camping and the additional 20ish ODW and MA, parks but it comes at the cost of an additional $6100… and since we aren’t sure we are the TT type of patron camper, I’m hesitant to upgrade without first checking the TT preserves out using this affordable new to us legacy membership we procured, which will pay for itself either way at the bargain rate we were blessed/lucky to obtain it at!
Roads and Routes
  • padredw's avatar
    padredw
    Nomad
    Aug 26, 2022
    Another alternative is to go up from Mobile, AL to Jackson, MS and pick up I-20 West. That would put you through East Texas where there are plenty of COE campgrounds not far off the Interstate. Here are a few:

    Lake o' the Pines, two nice campgrounds on each side of the dam: Buckhorn and Brushy Creek. About 20 miles North of I-20

    Bardwell Lake, southeast of Dallas may be a bit too far off your route, about 45 miles but there are 3 COE campgrounds around that Lake.

    Benbrook Lake is just 12 miles southwest of Fort Worth and less than 10 miles off I-20. Holiday COE Park seems to be the best campground around Benbrook Lake.

    I am limiting myself to those campgrounds near to I-20.

    One last comment: I-20 around Dallas/Fort Worth is one of the best bypasses around an urban area. I have rarely had to slow down from posted speed limit. Of course, I may have been lucky. One wreck could create an entirely different situation. Still, I have found the traffic to flow freely on I-20 south of DFW.

    You will merge with I-10 out in West Texas.
  • agesilaus's avatar
    agesilaus
    Explorer III
    Aug 26, 2022
    If you are looking for Interstate travel then I-10 is your only choice thru FL. There are two secondary highways, US 90 which basically follows I-10 and US 19/98 which follows the coast. That's OK until you get to the section east of Mexico Beach when the traffic spikes making for very slow going. No COE in Florida except for the one east of Ft Myers, But East Bank COE is just over the state line. Not our favorite COE but OK.

    At Mobile you can cut north to I-40. Alabama/Mississippi have a number of COE parks. Get a COE Book for lists of COE locations.

    In Texas you won't hit a COE park until you get around San Antonio. After that there aren't any near your direct path. No water no COE basically. Most have w/e until you get way north when they only have electric. We have probably stayed at 30-40 COE camps.

    In New Mexico and Arizona there is plenty of Boondocking. Texas has many city campgrounds, usually a very good deal. Suggest you go online and search YouTube for "State Name, camping" There are too many to list here. Get RVTW for planning and thousands of parks, Join the Escapees for their parks and lots of info on camping.
  • riah's avatar
    riah
    Explorer
    Aug 26, 2022
    Ok, maybe I should have worded the inquiry different … sort of initially looking for routes and parks between Florida and Texas, as well as learn of where else people may frequent in Texas that are reasonably priced alternative options (such as COE or passport america , RPI, etc harvest hosts/BW, and other less pricy favorite stopovers … and then from Texas Westward same information but for the various places in between youd highly recommended… don’t need frills just quiet 30 amp with dump station although option for electric is helpful at times too! But we are set up for shorter dry camping stints with solar dcdc charger and a generator so we can boondock as well and prefer it if we can find peace and quiet locations to stay at that are safe
  • Skid_Row_Joe's avatar
    Skid_Row_Joe
    Explorer
    Aug 26, 2022
    riah wrote:
    We have reservations for 6 weeks starting mid December through end of January at TT Orlando and Peace River. After that we are thinking of heading west towards Arizona via Texas.

    What routes would you suggest? Where would you stay?

    We have a legacy TT membership with 60 parks (TT, NACO, LTR) but there’s nothing really until Texas for camping though that TT membership plan.

    Hence, where would you suggest for reasonable priced stays until we get into Tx and can use our legacy membership where we can stay for $5 a night with our new to us Alliance membership - as we will have used up all but the 50 “free” nights the plan allows for and then we pay $5 a night…it’s a trade off for scoring the 210 day (7 month) booking window and the additional holiday and high use reservations at those 60 parks; we could upgrade and gain the unlimited camping and the additional 20ish ODW and MA, parks but it comes at the cost of an additional $6100… and since we aren’t sure we are the TT type of patron camper, I’m hesitant to upgrade without first checking the TT preserves out using this affordable new to us legacy membership we procured, which will pay for itself either way at the bargain rate we were blessed/lucky to obtain it at!
    I-10 to Tucson, AZ. I-8 to Yuma, AZ is where I'd stay.
  • agesilaus's avatar
    agesilaus
    Explorer III
    Aug 26, 2022
    Since your goal is southern AZ why not just take I10 straight across, except for the bypass around New Orleans, I12. Benson area has a number of good RV resort/camps at reasonable prices. Of course the cheapest alternative is Quartzite AZ

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