NW Washington RV park recommendations ( 5 month stay )

[Indianrock]

We're going to be picking up a used RV to park in an RV park for about five months while our house is finished up in Whatcom County, Washington. Full hookups and low noise are the main factors, even if the park is 20-30 miles out from Bellingham. I did notice a couple up by Birch Bay near Blaine and another down in Sedro Wooley.
I'm guessing since not all have cable TV/internet I may want to hang on to my directv subscription and pick up an RV dish.

[Indianrock]

Yes I'm definitely leaning now towards renting a small house or vacation rental at least until April. We don't mind the wet/cool, but temperatures in the 10-25 degree F range tend to not be fun in an RV. If I was going to live in an RV long-term or loved "arctic" camping I'd buy one designed for the weather, but this is a such a short-term deal, probably not worth that. No friends in the area where I could park an RV and can't park it on our lot out NE of Lake Whatcom until the septic and power are in ( county wouldn't like it otherwise )

[clikrf8]

Hi from a local. Can you check to see any RV parks near where your home is being built? Try the visitors bureau. Do you have friends in the area where you can stay on their property? I don't know if you have lived in the City of Subdued Excitement long, but our winters are WET, grey and cool. You may want to rent a cabin or small furnished home. From now until May or June, it will be wet more than dry. Trust me, I am a lifer.

[Fleet_Man]

We lived in our trailer, Sunnybrook 27FKS, while our house was being built. Had plenty of snow that year and temps into the teens. Heated, insulated water hose, heat at the park hose connection/spigot to prevent freezing, keep the lower cabinet doors cracked to allow heat to enter, you may need a heat source where the waterline enters the trailer, block off the underside, I put cot air mattresses under the slide out topper to to "puff it up" and insure runoff, aux heaters - oil filled or ceramic and watch your power useage. Use the outlet the microwave uses for a dedicated 15 amp power source. Dumped and flushed the holding tanks every seven to ten days. The closer the house got to completion, the smaller the trailer got. Hope these suggestions help.

[Indianrock]

No relationship to Ron Petty. Any suggestions for making it through a winter in a trailer? ( we are going to have full hookups )

[MaverickBBD]

We had lived in B'ham and Whatcom county for 41 years prior to fulltiming. Still have family and friends there. DW is from Mount Vermin in the beautiful Stagnant Valley. We both have Master's from Harvard on the Nooksack and Juan de Fuca U. (WWU). We return often and stay at Fidalgo RV in Anacortes, Swinnomish Casino and this last summer discovered Mount Vernon RV Park. The latter would probably be best for your needs (now that the I-5 bridge is fixed) but is difficult to get into reservation wise. All three would be good. For that length of time if you stay @ Fidalgo stay in the upper section away from the water front. BTW are you any relation to Ron Petty?

[Indianrock]

Thanks for the tips, I'll check them out. We did live in a trailer while our current home in California was being built -- that was from about August of 2011 through July of 2012. This was about a 20 foot trailer and we did notice a lot of condensation on the inside. The heater kept us warm enough, but that particular one was not designed for winter living 🙂

[romore]

Hidden Village on Baseline Road between Bellingham and Lynden might meet your needs. We stay there to get our 48 hours out of the country to maximize duty free. Plus it is an excuse to get out in the rv for a weekend.

[rr2254545]

Check with even the high priced campgrounds for monthly rates. We just stayed in the KOA in Kent Wa. for 600 month with cable. Electric was extra.

[Indianrock]

Thanks for that. I'm really beginning to think our best bet is to find a house for rent, at least until April. Winter in an RV doesn't sound like fun. Home construction can't start until June due to county regulations on excavation during the wet season, so if we do get up there before March and rent a house, it would allow us to check everything out in person, including shopping for a used travel trailer.

[donn0128]

The one in Bellingham is really not all that noisy. We were there for 9 days in September. The worst was the road construction, but that should be done by now. Rarely heard much from either I5 or the airport except during the day. But it was totally manageable. Sites are small and somewhat cramped, but the managers were nice. As a bonus the airport parking lot was still unused so we had a great place to exercise the dog while we were there.

[Indianrock]

Thanks I'll check it out.

[tkcas01]

Welcome to the forums!

If you are not aware of it, one good resource for info on RV parks is:

rvparkreviews.com