Well this year we popped for a new 5th wheel and are determined to head south for the winter or at least a small portion of it. I have a doc appointment mid January so we have to be back by then.I've been pouring over posts here and on other forums looking for good tidbits of information such as where to go and what to avoid. Lots of good stuff here. It can become overwhelming actually.So far here is the plan, the wife and I and the two pups (Zac & Zoey) plan to point it south sometime mid October. We know we want to spend our first year in Arizona and are looking at Casa Grande and Yuma for destinations.Since it is our first year we haven't made any reservations as of yet. Hopefully since we will be leaving early we should be OK. We just don't know where to make any yet.We know as it gets later in the year like November and December it may be harder to find something but hopefully we will have found were we would like to be by then.We will be calling places and asking a multitude of questions between now and then but any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.Thanks

You should be okay if you leave in October. Remember the high priced, most sought after parks may already be reserved. Do a search here for parks....maybe just title it YUMA and see what everyone recommends. :) We're going to go to Quartzsite (in fact we're in Utah right now...heading south) and we'll be boondocking on the desert......so we don't worry about reservations. :)

A park that you might enjoy in Casa Grande is Casa Grande RV resort and cottages, it has a large dog run and is very close to the dog park in Casa Grande. http://casagrandervresort.com/ We will be there in mid-November we find that most parks in Arizona don't get full until after New Year.

If you plan on Yuma the best area is east of Yuma.

Wow! Can't you change the doc appt? You'll be leaving just when the temps are getting good for a winter temp...and bad for Washington temps. :)

2gypsies wrote:Wow! Can't you change the doc appt? You'll be leaving just when the temps are getting good for a winter temp...and bad for Washington temps. :)Agree. Fly up for the appt if you must -- cheaper than driving your rig anyway!Then stay longer. Jan and Feb in Arizona is a lot nicer than up here in WA, East or West.

First time heading south | Good Sam Community

23 Replies

Community Alumni
Sep 29, 2015
2gypsies wrote:
If you don't think you'd like Yuma then you probably won't be thrilled with Casa Grande. There really isn't much to do there and it's a long distance to do anything in the greater Phoenix area. It is farming country and it gets dust storms, too....we've been in a couple in December and February.

You might want to consider the Apache Junction area if you enjoy hiking or fishing along the Apache Trail in gorgeous lakes. Also consider Tucson or Benson for outdoors kinds of things.

If you'll be in the areas during Christmas then I'd highly recommend this park. It's very friendly and has some good holiday programs during the holidays along with a feast for Christmas dinner. It's a nice place to be when you're away from home.

Escapees Saguaro RV Park, Benson, AZ

It's an Escapee membership park but for non-members you can stay a week on a full hookup site for $50 to try it out. Then if you want to stay a few months you'd need to become an Escapee member for $30/year but it has a lot of perks and includes a wonderful bi-monthly magazine written for RVers by RVers with very little advertising. Monthly rates are very reasonable. Look at the rates in the link.

Thanks for the inputs. I plan on joining the Escapees anyways. Do you get anything for referring? If so PM me some info. I will be joining later today or tomorrow.
Community Alumni
Sep 29, 2015
BarbaraOK wrote:
Look at the Cal-Am parks in Mesa/Apache Junction. They all have a fall special and you should be able to get October-December for a very reasonable cost and then head out Jan 1st. Where in Washington are you coming from? West side, you could look at going up Highway 101 from LA to Olympia - much less chance of snow. East side, just cross fingers & hope on the way up - though I would still do 101 up in January and hope for the best when you get to Olympia.

We expect to be in Mesa next Monday at Val Vista where we spend the winter.

Barb

Thanks Barb,
We live around Seattle so the only place I really worry about is Northern Cal and southern Oregon.
darsben
Explorer II
Sep 29, 2015
drifterdon wrote:
Thanks for all the great inputs.
As far as the doctor, I already have 4 eye specialists (long story) and not ready to add another, at least not for a while.
We checked out Casa Grande and will be heading that way. Looks like a number of good parks there.

absolutely a great place
PM me if you decide on Fiesta Grande.
Also when you are down make sure you get to ELOY to watch the skydiving.
Community Alumni
Sep 28, 2015
Thanks for all the great inputs.
As far as the doctor, I already have 4 eye specialists (long story) and not ready to add another, at least not for a while.
We checked out Casa Grande and will be heading that way. Looks like a number of good parks there.
Flyboy320
Explorer
Sep 28, 2015
We winter in Casa Grande at Palm Creek Golf & RV Resort. Check it out. Lots of in park activities....Golf, Pickleball (32 courts), wood working, quilting....and much much more.Great golfing in the area. 60 min to downtown Phoenix.75 min to Tucson. Less wind that Yuma...so I`ve been told. Have made this our winter home for the last 8 years.
BarbaraOK
Explorer
Sep 28, 2015
darsben wrote:
There are doctors in Arizona

We change our physicians to the Mesa area last winter since we spend the whole winter there and are very happy with the result.

Barb
darsben
Explorer II
Sep 28, 2015
There are doctors in Arizona
Community Alumni
Sep 28, 2015
rockhillmanor wrote:
Just a heads up.
One thing you 'really' need to consider is the drive back in January.

Snow storms, ice storms etc will make your trip back REAL difficult to plan to make that Dr. Appt.

It's not like jumping in a car to drive back, you will be towing an RV and will in some instances NOT be able to drive due to winter weather conditions.

Just saying, I've been there done that. And I never did make it back up North as I had planned, trying to do it doing the winter months.

Good point,
My plan is to head into California from Yuma, then up I-5 and over to the coast around the bay area. Then up the coast through most of Oregon. That should hopefully avoid snow on the way home.
BarbaraOK
Explorer
Sep 28, 2015
Look at the Cal-Am parks in Mesa/Apache Junction. They all have a fall special and you should be able to get October-December for a very reasonable cost and then head out Jan 1st. Where in Washington are you coming from? West side, you could look at going up Highway 101 from LA to Olympia - much less chance of snow. East side, just cross fingers & hope on the way up - though I would still do 101 up in January and hope for the best when you get to Olympia.

We expect to be in Mesa next Monday at Val Vista where we spend the winter.

Barb
rockhillmanor
Explorer II
Sep 28, 2015
Just a heads up.
One thing you 'really' need to consider is the drive back in January.

Snow storms, ice storms etc will make your trip back REAL difficult to plan to make that Dr. Appt.

It's not like jumping in a car to drive back, you will be towing an RV and will in some instances NOT be able to drive due to winter weather conditions.

Just saying, I've been there done that. And I never did make it back up North as I had planned, trying to do it doing the winter months.

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