55+ RV Parks

[RobWNY]

In my search for places for my wife and I to stay next winter, I've looked at dozens of RV Park/Resort websites. Many advertise as being 55+ parks. Although my wife and I qualify, we barely qualify. I'm 57 and my wife is 55. We're quite active and most think we're in our 40's. We like going to the gym. We like to Kayak and go hiking. We enjoy going out and having a couple of drinks and eating good food. We like listening to a good band. We can spend hours at a good craft show. Often we'll go watch a Football or Baseball Spring Training game, etc. Are most of these RV Parks/Resorts that are for the 55+ crowd mainly catering to those RV'ers that are much older than 55? I see videos and photos that show people that are in their mid to late 70's mostly. Most of the activities at these places are geared toward that age group. I understand that snowbirds are going to be older but is there at least some people more in line with our age at these parks too? Don't get me wrong, I can only hope to still be able to do what these folks are doing in my 70's but our lifestyles are somewhat different just by the nature of our age differences. I'm just trying to get an idea of what my wife and I can expect.

[westernrvparkow]

Thunder Mountain wrote:


Nine winters ago we were in the same situation as you. Many of the people we met in the 55+ RV parks were old enough to be our parents. We had very little in common with them other than a love of RVing and enjoying life on the road.

The social activities were mostly geared toward that generation such as crafts, line dancing etc. The tribute concerts and clubhouse background music was early 50's to very early 60s. Our idea of fun is hiking in the desert, mountain biking and ATVing.

Things have definitely changed in some parks. Baby Boomers are turning 65 at the rate of 10,000 per day. I assume that the older generation is leaving the road at about the same rate. About four years ago we were sitting in the hot tub at Canyon Vistas after a day of hiking when I noticed that the 60s rock tune "Gloria" was blaring over the speakers. I quipped something to the effect, "When you hear that tune in a RV park, you know you have arrived." We see far more hiking groups and ATVers than before. Pickle ball seems more popular that shuffle board. Tribute concerts are definitely geared more towards the rock generation. We've got a good friend who makes the rounds doing John Denver tributes.

We've also noticed a change in the types of RVs. Yes, we see boomers in new $1,000,000 coaches. But we see lots more small RV such as those built on the Mercedes chassis driven by recent Boomer retirees.

A few years ago we walked into a clubhouse and the posters and flyers were all about the upcoming tribute concert of the Andrews Sisters music and the next week was a nightclub show featuring Borscht Belt entertainment. That wasn't our best winter destination choice.

[RobWNY]

My wife and I chose professions and worked extremely hard to make it possible to retire young. It came with quite a bit of personal cost too, but there isn't a day that goes by that we don't feel grateful, thankful and humbled to be in this position. Socializing with folks older than us won't be an issue. My wife often laughs at me because it tends to take me three plus hours to set up camp because I stop and talk to friendly neighbors too much lol. Usually they are seasonal and either retired or with the cash flow to have a seasonal site.

With that said, we'll be happy to volunteer at the Pot Luck dinners, play a game of shuffleboard or horseshoes and yell out BINGO or congratulate others that yell it out, but it will be unlikely we'll attend more than 50% of those events. westernrvparkowner, you make a very good point. To really enjoy things all winter, we need to stay near the coast or a larger town where there will be more than enough to do for all ages.

[Thunder_Mountai]

RobWNY wrote:
In my search for places for my wife and I to stay next winter, I've looked at dozens of RV Park/Resort websites. Many advertise as being 55+ parks. Although my wife and I qualify, we barely qualify. I'm 57 and my wife is 55. We're quite active and most think we're in our 40's. We like going to the gym. We like to Kayak and go hiking. We enjoy going out and having a couple of drinks and eating good food. We like listening to a good band. We can spend hours at a good craft show. Often we'll go watch a Football or Baseball Spring Training game, etc. Are most of these RV Parks/Resorts that are for the 55+ crowd mainly catering to those RV'ers that are much older than 55? I see videos and photos that show people that are in their mid to late 70's mostly. Most of the activities at these places are geared toward that age group. I understand that snowbirds are going to be older but is there at least some people more in line with our age at these parks too? Don't get me wrong, I can only hope to still be able to do what these folks are doing in my 70's but our lifestyles are somewhat different just by the nature of our age differences. I'm just trying to get an idea of what my wife and I can expect.

Nine winters ago we were in the same situation as you. Many of the people we met in the 55+ RV parks were old enough to be our parents. We had very little in common with them other than a love of RVing and enjoying life on the road.

The social activities were mostly geared toward that generation such as crafts, line dancing etc. The tribute concerts and clubhouse background music was early 50's to very early 60s. Our idea of fun is hiking in the desert, mountain biking and ATVing.

Things have definitely changed in some parks. Baby Boomers are turning 65 at the rate of 10,000 per day. I assume that the older generation is leaving the road at about the same rate. About four years ago we were sitting in the hot tub at Canyon Vistas after a day of hiking when I noticed that the 60s rock tune "Gloria" was blaring over the speakers. I quipped something to the effect, "When you hear that tune in a RV park, you know you have arrived." We see far more hiking groups and ATVers than before. Pickle ball seems more popular that shuffle board. Tribute concerts are definitely geared more towards the rock generation. We've got a good friend who makes the rounds doing John Denver tributes.

We've also noticed a change in the types of RVs. Yes, we see boomers in new $1,000,000 coaches. But we see lots more small RV such as those built on the Mercedes chassis driven by recent Boomer retirees.

[2oldman]

Yes, everyone will be older than you. Almost nobody retires at 55.. or even 60.

[westernrvparkow]

Owning parks in the Northwest, we have fought your fight for years. We were much younger than you and your wife when we started having the winters free. We never found what you are looking for. The fact of the matter is the snowbird crowd is much older than you. You are going to be out of place, a square peg in a field of round holes, so to speak. What worked for us is concentrating on the activities that cross over between our age and the snowbirds. To start with everybody eats and like to socialize. We would just have a block party and invite the neighbors to eat and drink. That is a good ice breaker. Depending on what you like to do, you will likely either find some people with similar interests or get leads on other people in the park who do.
We also ended up in an area where it is not 100% snowbirders and where the disposable income for the community is high. That way there is more diversity of activities. My suggestions would be near the ocean or near a major city. The only parks that have come close to filling most of our wants and desires are the old Outdoor Resorts. They are expensive and tend to draw people who are financially willing and able to expand their activities beyond the borders of the park. They are also located in the best seasonal areas such as Southern Florida, Las Vegas and Southern California. It is going to be an interesting journey for you.

[david_iona]

We spend the winter months in a 55+ rv park in the greater Phoenix AZ area. Possibly 50% of the park residents may lead a more sedentary lifestyle many others are very active with many outdoor activities. We have groups of men and women that hike leisure hikes in the Arizona desert mountains and hiking groups with deeper miles long mountain hikes. There are biking groups for desert bikes, competition style road bikes and leisure biking. Some folks have kayaking excursions and canoe trips around ghe mountain lakes. Golf groups, tennis, racketball, pickle ball, just about any kind of activity that interest you can be found in a 55+ rv park. And, this is including wood working shops, lapidary shops, jewel making, silver smithing, quilting, model airplane, model racecars, just name it and you can find it. Not all parks have everything but a few exploratory trips will help in deciding where to stay for a week or month or season. Go for it, it's a great senior lifestyle. It is what we always "wanted to do when we grew up".

[TheLuvShack]

As long as the activities that you like to do are available in the area just go do them. If you're looking for companionship from the other snowbirds, it depends on the campground or resort. Check out the website of the campground/resort and there'll be an activity calendar. Many resorts have more group activities then you'll care to join. We've met many active friendly people from 55-80 everywhere we went.