Park to park

This is our third year staying at a snowbird park. Two winters in Florida and we are enroute to a snowbird park in Appache Junction AZ. We like to stay at a park for the duration of our stay, usually 4-5 months. The longer stays gives you enough time to develop friendships and enjoy the area. We stayed at a great park in Florida (Adelaide Shores RV Resort)and we are sure we will like the park this year in AZ.

We actually do a bit of both each winter, we transit the US from Ontario to southern California and we take about a month stopping at state parks on the way there and back with a couple of months or so spent in one park in southern California. We've also moved from park to park all winter but the driving sometimes gets tiresome.

There are some great state parks with full/part services in Tennessee, Arkansas and Texas. Texas also has a park pass that saves $$ if you plan to stop in a few of their state parks.

As others have said, you have to know what you want and like to do. We spent a whole year moving our first year. We spent no more than 2 weeks anywhere and some weeks a different park every night. We found out we didn't like moving that much and next year spent months of winter in one spot, next year 5 months and now we spend 6 months in Florida and the rest of the year a month here, a couple of weeks there but no more moving every day or two. Find what works for you and enjoy doing it!

Personally, once I retire and start snowbirding, I'm sure my winters will be month here - month there kind of thing until I find a park that I would feel comfortable calling home of the entire time I plan on wintering down south. Once I find that park, I'd surely reserve 3 or 4 months the following winter there and spend the rest of the time I plan on spending away very slowly making my way back.

I know RV snowbirders who do it both ways. Some like to keep moving around, actually take two or three months moving toward their January-February place.

I know others who go to the same place every winter, stay there for the whole winter, doing stuff with the community that also goes to the same place every winter. This is like the sticks and bricks snowbirders who have a winter home in a warm place and stay there for the winter, and are part of the same large community there every winter.

I also have a friend who snowbirds in property she rents or owns in Florida, Southern California, and Costa Rica. Thus sticks and bricks, but not one place for the whole winter. I can't afford to do that, or if I can, that's not how I choose to spend my money.

I do a different kind of snowbirding, going to different warm places for a few weeks at a time, only I don't drag along the RV because I either have places to stay with relatives (really big family) or I am on a ship for a long cruise in warm waters. And sometimes I go north to enjoy winter sports, because my first 22 years were in the Winter-Water Wonderland, as it called itself then.

I've thought about doing it in the RV, but I know I would find staying on one place to be too confining, and when one gets into RV snowbirding territory, there is kind of a limited area in which to move around, and a lot of it is all the same thing. Variation would be mostly year to year, i.e. Florida one year, Arizona another, Gulf Coast another, Texas another.

All depends on your preferences and resources.

Being residents of Florida, the first winter we were full timing, we stayed in state parks all winter.

We moved every two weeks all winter.

Personally, we enjoyed the variety but got tired of moving.

Too old or too lazy I guess.

We take advantage of the monthly promotions and move on the first of every month. This year we will be in the Lower Keys for November, Fort Myers for December, Sebring for January and then we put the trailer in storage and will spend February with friends at their villa in Key Largo and March is undecided, maybe Fort Pierce or Verro Beach

This coming winter will be our 3rd snowbirding season. The first year we hopped around to about 8 different campgrounds over a 6+ week period. We mainly did that just to see different parks in FL. Last winter we did about 6 different parks over 9 weeks, staying about 9 weeks in FL and a short stop in Gulf Shores, AL. This year we're looking at about 10-11 weeks, mostly in FL, but with 2 months in just one park and a couple of short stays elsewhere in FL.

Southern AL or GA are a bit too chilly for me. We will spend some time south of I-4 in FL, but our 2 month stay will be north of Tampa about 70 miles in Crystal River, FL. It's still cooler there than south of Tampa, but we've stayed there for 5 weeks before and didn't mind the temps.

Traveling a lot can get more expensive. The longer you stay in a park generally the lower the daily cost. State or federal campgrounds certainly bring down the cost compared to private parks. We've used FL state parks several times and will again use one we liked down in Sebring as well as a county park in Melbourne. They are great for checking out an area, but don't offer activities like the private parks. You can always design a trip to your liking and if it doesn't suit you change it the next year. Experience is a great teacher.

We're I guess 1/2 timers and go to the same park every year. Normally 5 months but this season we're going for 6. We love the park we're in and have plenty of things to do. Everyone is different but this is the way we've spent our winters. Good Luck on what you decide.

Davion206 wrote:
..snip... Looking at corp parks in southern Alabama and Georgia. They have a 14 day limit but there are some within driving distance of each other so moving around would be an option.

During the off season you can easily apply for an extension. As long as the COE is not full it never seems to be a problem. Just ask the gate house what the procedure is for that park.

We use to go from place to place, but last year and this we'll stay put. Next winter it's back on the road again.