Ageing Snowbird Parks, Changing habits, preferences.

[pawatt]

Would like to see your observations, suggestions, likes and dislikes regarding some of the long existing snowbird parks.

[rockhillmanor]

I don't care if they have activities or not.
BUT what I do care about is how close together the sites are.

My first time down to Florida I headed to a couple of well known snowbird CG's around Ocala.

OH MY! They had those MH's parked so close to together you literally could reach out your window and touch the one next to you. And all on an absolutely vacant land setting. I thought omg maybe I should have thought this snowbird lifestyle a bit more thoroughly before heading out! I pulled in circled the camp and promptly left!

I seek out small out of the way CG's. Better sized sites, trees, and usually very friendly neighbors and CG mgrs.

I sit a spell if I like it, if not move on to the next one. In all my years snowbirding I have 'never' made reservations in the winter months for CG's in Florida. :C

[NoVa_RT]

RobWNY wrote:

We won't be snowbirds for the first time until next year, leaving the snowbelt of Western NY for the warmth of Florida. We've done our research and have things pretty well planned out. … We plan on several stops on the way to our winter destination. A couple of nights in West Virginia, a few nights in North Carolina, a few nights in South Carolina, A night in Northern Florida and then 4 months in the Cocoa/Titusville/Cape Canaveral area.

Jetty Park? If so, you've chosen wisely, IMHO. Been a few years, and I was only there for a week or two at a time, but they had a lot of happy longer duration snowbirds.

[rvnetter]

Sent Private Message

[doxiemom11]

We are in our 8th year of full-time and whenever we travel, we take our time. We like to travel 200 or less miles per day. No need for us to wear ourselves out by racing to a destination. It will be there waiting for us, whenever we arrive be it today or next week.

[John_Joey]

RobWNY wrote:
...I was just wondering why anyone pushes it...

I think once you get to know those people you'll find out they pinch old Abraham to a point he tears up. At least the ones I got to know. They would race down staying in non campgrounds so as to get the deal of staying long term in a park. Didn't matter if they had a beatup slidein, or a shinny DP.


When it comes to traveling the "been there, done that" is a state of mind. There is always something new around every corner, you just have to be in that mindset, and be able to afford it.

[bighatnohorse]

The online meetup.com is a good way to find people of similar interests and to get involved at a local level, anywhere.

[BarbaraOK]

We only do about 4 hours. When moving between areas we try and follow the 2-2-2 'rule'. 200 miles a day, in the next park by 2:00 pm, and stay 2 nights. It takes us 6 weeks to go from the Phoenix area to Seattle each spring and about 8 weeks or so coming down in the fall (we make winery stops in the fall) before we settle in for the winter.

[RobWNY]

jrs1871 wrote:
RobWNY, my guess is those taking the shortest time possible on their trek south have made the trip numerous times. The first year we headed south we took more time stopping to check out various places along the route. We did the same thing on the way north in the spring. Now that we have made the trek for 16 years, we have stopped at all those places that piqued our interest. Thus we come and go on the most direct, shortest time reasonably possible.
I do know several folks that leave down here at the end of a month so they don't have to pay additional rent but meander around on the way north waiting for the weather to improve. Some take as long as two weeks to make it to their summer home.

jrs1871, That's exactly our thinking. We're going to get out of here before the snow is bad and arrive on Dec. 1 The slow trek South next fall and North the following Spring serves three purposes for us. 1. We hopefully avoid any real snow issues in the fall or following Spring 2. we don't get fatigued on any day by only driving a 4-6 hours each day and 3. We check in at the beginning of a month and checkout at the end of a month. I was just wondering why anyone pushes it. I've read all over this forum about how 6 hours on the road is plenty for most people when towing.

[jrs1871]

RobWNY, my guess is those taking the shortest time possible on their trek south have made the trip numerous times. The first year we headed south we took more time stopping to check out various places along the route. We did the same thing on the way north in the spring. Now that we have made the trek for 16 years, we have stopped at all those places that piqued our interest. Thus we come and go on the most direct, shortest time reasonably possible.
I do know several folks that leave down here at the end of a month so they don't have to pay additional rent but meander around on the way north waiting for the weather to improve. Some take as long as two weeks to make it to their summer home.

[RobWNY]

Deb and Ed M wrote:

BarneyS wrote:


This will be our first Michigan winter in over 16 years and I'm both looking forward to it and dreading it. What I am most sad about though, is not seeing all of our friends again. They were our 2nd family down there.
Barney

Ed and I have discussed the fact that some day - the grueling drive might not be something we can handle. We have a few Michigan friends who don't do the migration any more, due to loss of friends and probably a bit of fear of being too far from family as their health declines. In the meantime, *I* did the drive this year - just to see if I was capable of 2 days of nonstop driving.

On the other hand, as West Michiganders - seeing the sun for the first times in about a month.... the grueling drive is still worth it.

We won't be snowbirds for the first time until next year, leaving the snowbelt of Western NY for the warmth of Florida. We've done our research and have things pretty well planned out. If I may ask, why only take 2 days to get South? We plan on several stops on the way to our winter destination. A couple of nights in West Virginia, a few nights in North Carolina, a few nights in South Carolina, A night in Northern Florida and then 4 months in the Cocoa/Titusville/Cape Canaveral area. Then the same slow trek back north in April. Is there a reason you only take 2 days to get to your destination?

[Deb_and_Ed_M]

BarneyS wrote:


This will be our first Michigan winter in over 16 years and I'm both looking forward to it and dreading it. What I am most sad about though, is not seeing all of our friends again. They were our 2nd family down there.
Barney

Ed and I have discussed the fact that some day - the grueling drive might not be something we can handle. We have a few Michigan friends who don't do the migration any more, due to loss of friends and probably a bit of fear of being too far from family as their health declines. In the meantime, *I* did the drive this year - just to see if I was capable of 2 days of nonstop driving.

On the other hand, as West Michiganders - seeing the sun for the first times in about a month.... the grueling drive is still worth it.

[Deb_and_Ed_M]

Snowman9000 wrote:
If I was running one of these, I might give free or reduced site rent to a few hand-selected go-getters who have the cruise-director personality. With the understanding that they are there to head up, promote, and recruit for the (hiking/crafting/pickleball/golf/happy hour/new resident/whatever) clubs. Try to keep a finger on the pulse of what activities people are participating in, and work those with enthusiastic leaders.

Once people make friends, they come back. That is a way more important factor than amenities. So, develop a strategy to enable people to make friends more easily. In addition to the usual huge events for everyone, I would try to organize some smaller mixer type events, like block parties. Maybe have a block captain or den mother, lol, whose mission is to organize a couple of these get-togethers each month. Sounds like hard work? Depends on the personality of the person doing it. Find the people who like to do it, and give them the help they need.

I think this would be a lot more cost-effective than trying to have the biggest, most-est amenities.

I agree! We wandered through RV parks for years - each seemed to have its own personality. Sometimes the personality clicked with us; other times it didn't (even though the people were nice). I think overall, we just didn't like the "closeness" of being in an RV park for months (plus the spotty wifi) - so we opted to buy a small condo in a park-like community of all ages. I LIKE hearing children giggle and playing 🙂 And once we made a few friends - well, it feels like "home" to us. We really don't use many amenities here, other than the pool and the walking paths leading to the Intracoastal Waterway. But as Snowman9000 says, we have those people who organize impromptu gatherings, and the fellowship is what makes our place fun!

[BarneyS]

We have just this year finished going South for the winter. We have gone to the Tampa, Florida area for the past 16 years with a couple of trips to Texas for the winter. After the first couple of years, we found ourselves going back to the same place for one main reason. We made friends there. Our friends are what brought us back to the same place each year and not the amenities although those did not hurt.

This will be our first Michigan winter in over 16 years and I'm both looking forward to it and dreading it. What I am most sad about though, is not seeing all of our friends again. They were our 2nd family down there.
Barney

[alfredmay]

JRS1871,

Well stated. What you wrote is almost exactly my situation. I stayed in one RV park one year and did not care for it. After that I found what I was looking for and followed your lead except I jumped from an RV directly to a mobile home.

I also like the mix of housing as I have friends who own and stay in RVs, park models and mobile homes. Our park also has a hotel with 100 suites and 20 motel rooms.

If you do not find the activities offered at the park of your choice to your liking, consider calling them and offering to start and run something you are are interested in. My park has a number of brand new activities started and run by new residents.