Looking for some guidance from experienced snowbirds.Up until now my wife and I had to spend winters at our home in west suburban Chicago. We have been able to leave Chicago around March 1st and head to Mesa, AZ for at least part of spring training. That has changed and we're now able to spend much more of the winter away from the cold and snow but we still have a few family commitments that will require us to stay home until roughly January 10th. We're trying to plan this as best as possible without having a date certain when we can leave home as weather at home will play a huge part. It's not so much when we can leave Chicago as it is IF we can leave Chicago as planned.Up till now leaving home around March 1st has been working pretty well for us in terms of generally not needing reservations at parks between Chicago and Mesa. We do generally call ahead to check availability but needing hard reservations is usually not needed. Our plan right now would be to leave home roughly January 10th and head due south towards Florida as fast as possible to get out of the worst of the cold. We're planning to spend some time in SW Florida visiting family before heading for Mesa towards the end of January arriving there roughly February 10th. Our driving days are generally limited to about 4-5 hrs of actual road time.The question on our minds revolves around parks on the way to Florida from Chicago and again from Florida to Arizona along I-10. Will reservations at those en-route parks as well as at the destination park in Florida be absolutely necessary or is it likely we can drive up and get a spot for 1-3 days? If reservations are needed must they be made months in advance or are the parks full of others like us meaning making reservations now? But if we can't lock down a departure date from Chicago how can we make reservations anywhere with the certainty of an arrival date? Bad weather that crops up along the way can play havoc with a schedule. How do you experienced folks deal with that?

Chicago to Florida you will need to research RV parks that are open year round. The alternative is to push through the cold climes and stopping overnight without de-winterizing (Walmarts, Cracker Barrlel etc). Allstays, RVParky and freecampsites.net will help). If it's very cold, find a hotel/motel with a large parking lot.Florida availability depends on how far south of I-4 you go. Most snowbirds make reservations for next year when they leave this year, but these are generally snowbirds that stay in the same place all winter. If you move around, you can get spots.Once on I-10, you should have no problems on short term/short stay stops. The way we did this was we were staying at place A, had reservations at place B and were figuring out place C. We stayed 3-7 days in each place.

We have travelled across the states both directionsseveral times and found no problem booking into a park.We use Passport America quite a bit.January through March are usually the busiest times forRV parks, but we have found that if we call early in the morning we can get a reservation.That being said, we have arrived at a park, got set up and found the park is totally full by four o'clock.Early bird gets the worm, I guess.

jplante4 wrote:Chicago to Florida you will need to research RV parks that are open year round. The alternative is to push through the cold climes and stopping overnight without de-winterizing (Walmarts, Cracker Barrlel etc). Allstays, RVParky and freecampsites.net will help). If it's very cold, find a hotel/motel with a large parking lot.Florida availability depends on how far south of I-4 you go. Most snowbirds make reservations for next year when they leave this year, but these are generally snowbirds that stay in the same place all winter. If you move around, you can get spots.Once on I-10, you should have no problems on short term/short stay stops. The way we did this was we were staying at place A, had reservations at place B and were figuring out place C. We stayed 3-7 days in each place.we have identified parks that are planning on being open next January but of course we'll double check all of them before heading out. once in Florida we'll be heading Venice/Englewood area. there's a nice park in Venice (Rambler's Rest) that we've used in the past so that would be Plan A. I have a call in to them and awaiting a call back. We're not married to that particular park but again if I can't lock down a departure date how can I be sure to keep a reservation? as for the I-10 strategy that sounds like a good way to go. thanks.

luckyd wrote:We have travelled across the states both directionsseveral times and found no problem booking into a park.We use Passport America quite a bit.January through March are usually the busiest times forRV parks, but we have found that if we call early in the morning we can get a reservation.That being said, we have arrived at a park, got set up and found the park is totally full by four o'clock.Early bird gets the worm, I guess.thanks.

rk911 wrote:Looking for some guidance from experienced snowbirds.Up until now my wife and I had to spend winters at our home in west suburban Chicago. We have been able to leave Chicago around March 1st and head to Mesa, AZ for at least part of spring training. That has changed and we're now able to spend much more of the winter away from the cold and snow but we still have a few family commitments that will require us to stay home until roughly January 10th. We're trying to plan this as best as possible without having a date certain when we can leave home as weather at home will play a huge part. It's not so much when we can leave Chicago as it is IF we can leave Chicago as planned. If reservations are needed must they be made months in advance or are the parks full of others like us meaning making reservations now? But if we can't lock down a departure date from Chicago how can we make reservations anywhere with the certainty of an arrival date? Bad weather that crops up along the way can play havoc with a schedule. How do you experienced folks deal with that?Using your cell phone will allow you to cancel or reschedule any reservations. Check each RV parks cancellation policy.

New Snowbird Asking For Guidance | Good Sam Community

13 Replies

rk911
Explorer
Apr 21, 2017
Dick_B wrote:
Chicago to Florida: Camp Lakewood in Effingham is open all year as is Whittington Woods in southern Illinois. We like to make our first stop in Paducah, KY (about 380 miles) and stay overnight at Duck Creek RV park a Good Sam park. From there we go to Chattanooga then to Cordele, GA our last stop before our destination in Bushnell, FL at Blueberry Hill R V Resort just off I-75. The first day is about 8 hours but each succeeding day is more like 6 hours to four hours on the last leg.

we used to stay at Camp Lakewood often until it was sold. it's changed hands a few more times since then and to us it seems like the current owners are letting the little things go. Whittington Woods is a new one for us and I'll look that one up. we also use Duck Creek and like that park quite a bit. that's one of the open all year en route parks that we've identified and is about a 6-hr ride from home for us making it our first stop. we prefer heading to Florida via I-57/I-24/I-65/US231/I-10/I-75 thus avoiding Hotlanta. there are a few open all yr parks on I-65 in AL and by the time we get to Montgomery I suspect most parks will be open but we'll plan on making short hops out of respect for the weather and arriving early to get a spot.
Dick_B
Explorer
Apr 21, 2017
Chicago to Florida: Camp Lakewood in Effingham is open all year as is Whittington Woods in southern Illinois. We like to make our first stop in Paducah, KY (about 380 miles) and stay overnight at Duck Creek RV park a Good Sam park. From there we go to Chattanooga then to Cordele, GA our last stop before our destination in Bushnell, FL at Blueberry Hill RV Resort just off I-75. The first day is about 8 hours but each succeeding day is more like 6 hours to four hours on the last leg.
rk911
Explorer
Apr 21, 2017
truly appreciate the responses and advice. I'm feeling better about finding space at en-route parks next January/February.

safe travels!
PghBob
Explorer
Apr 21, 2017
We too are usually January travelers. I will book our main park in Florida in advance, knowing that I will likely arrive in Florida ahead of schedule. For those days I arrive ahead of our reservations, I wait until I get the latest weather forecast for the areas I will be traveling through, then I call a place(s) for a short term stay just as we are leaving. Usually, no trouble getting a short term (a few days) spot north of I4.

Note that we have had to change departure dates a couple of times due to weather along our route, so your idea of planning for this is a good idea.
almcc
Explorer
Apr 21, 2017
Can't help with Florida, but we transit the US crossing at Detroit November 1st, going through Indiana, Tennessee Arkansas Texas and New Mexico and Arizona to get to southern California December 1. We do the reverse trip starting March 1st to arrive back home April 1st.

Going down we have no problems without reservations, we use the "open all year" parks in the north and we de-winterize in Bowling Green KY. On the way back we have found we need reservations in March due to the Spring Break weeks which seem to vary in each state. The KOA website is a good one to check for vacancies , they are good for short stop overs. We also travel short distances, getting into parks in the early afternoon.
tinstartrvlr
Explorer
Apr 21, 2017
X2 on calling ahead to be sure. I've never had a problem, but during a recent jaunt across I-10 from Tx, when I got to Fl, I found that all the parks in the area I planned to stop were full due to spring break, a problem I hadn't thought of. Fortunately, as I planned my stay at Walmart, I got a call from one of the parks letting me know they had a cancellation, as long as I was only there one night.
pennysmom09
Explorer
Apr 21, 2017
We have found traveling cross country, that it is best to give a call first thing in the morning. As soon as we are on the road, I will call for availability, and most times it wasn't needed, but sometimes it was. I'd rather call than be unpleasantly surprised after a day of traveling.
rk911
Explorer
Apr 21, 2017
djgarcia wrote:
rk911 wrote:
Looking for some guidance from experienced snowbirds.

Up until now my wife and I had to spend winters at our home in west suburban Chicago. We have been able to leave Chicago around March 1st and head to Mesa, AZ for at least part of spring training. That has changed and we're now able to spend much more of the winter away from the cold and snow but we still have a few family commitments that will require us to stay home until roughly January 10th. We're trying to plan this as best as possible without having a date certain when we can leave home as weather at home will play a huge part. It's not so much when we can leave Chicago as it is IF we can leave Chicago as planned.
If reservations are needed must they be made months in advance or are the parks full of others like us meaning making reservations now? But if we can't lock down a departure date from Chicago how can we make reservations anywhere with the certainty of an arrival date? Bad weather that crops up along the way can play havoc with a schedule.

How do you experienced folks deal with that?

Using your cell phone will allow you to cancel or reschedule any reservations. Check each RV parks cancellation policy.

we're aware of that. we've been talking with other parks here in the Mesa area as we're thinking of changing parks when here. most told us that if we reserve from Date A to Date B but circumstances prevent us from arriving on Date A the reservation still runs from Date A to Date B. some said that they might be able to make an adjustment depending on availability of the original site. in other words we may have to move one or more times.

but it's not the destination park we're concerned with...just the "en-route parks". what we're trying to gauge is just how full or the daily availability of the "en-route" parks are likely to be. if based on your experience I'm overthinking the problem then just knock me upside the head.
MarkTwain
Explorer
Apr 21, 2017
rk911 wrote:
Looking for some guidance from experienced snowbirds.

Up until now my wife and I had to spend winters at our home in west suburban Chicago. We have been able to leave Chicago around March 1st and head to Mesa, AZ for at least part of spring training. That has changed and we're now able to spend much more of the winter away from the cold and snow but we still have a few family commitments that will require us to stay home until roughly January 10th. We're trying to plan this as best as possible without having a date certain when we can leave home as weather at home will play a huge part. It's not so much when we can leave Chicago as it is IF we can leave Chicago as planned.
If reservations are needed must they be made months in advance or are the parks full of others like us meaning making reservations now? But if we can't lock down a departure date from Chicago how can we make reservations anywhere with the certainty of an arrival date? Bad weather that crops up along the way can play havoc with a schedule.

How do you experienced folks deal with that?

Using your cell phone will allow you to cancel or reschedule any reservations. Check each RV parks cancellation policy.
rk911
Explorer
Apr 21, 2017
luckyd wrote:
We have travelled across the states both directions
several times and found no problem booking into a park.
We use Passport America quite a bit.

January through March are usually the busiest times for
RV parks, but we have found that if we call early
in the morning we can get a reservation.

That being said, we have arrived at a park, got set up
and found the park is totally full by four o'clock.

Early bird gets the worm, I guess.

thanks.