Snow-birding; Texas instead of Arizona?

[stepdad]

Hey good folks,
We are going to be snowbirds for the first time this winter. We are from Washington State. I checked rates at snowbird parks in Arizona and I thought they we quite high. Then I checked Texas and WOW way cheaper. Any pro's or con's with Texas as a snowbird destination?

~Thanks, John

[John_Joey]

TomG2 wrote:
It must be a hit and miss thing. My sister had much more rust on their camper in the Corpus Christi area than I have in the middle of the Rio Grande Valley.

I store a rig in La Fera. Park lore is anything east of there and you'll run into salt and hurricane issues. Needless to say the closer you're to the Gulf breeze, the worst it may be. I'm actually surprise that Rio Hondo had issues that were enough to cause them to take the rig back to the maker for repair.

My rule of thumb is if you're on the Gulf for the winter you'll have about three free weeks. After that you'll start seeing rust. The longer you stay, the more you'll see. Second rule of thumb is after five winters on the Gulf it'll be hard to get trade-in value at a dealer if you do nothing to the rig during those winters.

[Padlin]

It's only been 1 winter. Sitting in one spot isn't our style, we spend a week or 2 then move on. Spent 1/2 in TX and 1/2 in AZ, FL, and GA the year before. Going to take us a good number of years to see both TX and AZ. We did find it windier in TX. Cooler too, but nothing that bothered us, at least when we were north of San Antonio. TX was also much less crowded and cheaper, at least where we stayed on that trip. Hiking was better in AZ, many, many, more hikers in AZ then TX.

We liked them both, FL not so much.

[TomG2]

It must be a hit and miss thing. My sister had much more rust on their camper in the Corpus Christi area than I have in the middle of the Rio Grande Valley.

[John_Joey]

was_butnotnow wrote:
Our first-year full timing we went to TX landed in Rio Hondo east of Harlingen many miles from the coast but the winter was damp with salt air and windy. So damp the power lines would snap.
Well, we later saw rust to our 5er frame big time from the salty air. And we were as I sad many miles inland. We later had to take the 5er back to NuWa (HitchHiker in KS and have to frame sandblasted and new power coating sprayed on.

I try so hard to warn people on this forum about salt damage. So many are from the rust belt and think they know it all.

Next time look into a product called "Fluid Film" if you ever attempt it again.

[Nmomoct28]

We are snow-birding for the first-time this year. We will stay four months in Mesa as our family is in Scottsdale and Tucson. We had reservations about staying in one place for that long but are really excited about good weather, outside pools, walking, biking, etc. We chose Silveridge RV Resort based on a friend's recommendation. Just ordered a more comfortable recliner for our travel trailer.

[was_butnotnow]

Our first-year full timing we went to TX landed in Rio Hondo east of Harlingen many miles from the coast but the winter was damp with salt air and windy. So damp the power lines would snap.
Well, we later saw rust to our 5er frame big time from the salty air. And we were as I sad many miles inland. We later had to take the 5er back to NuWa (HitchHiker in KS and have to frame sandblasted and new power coating sprayed on.

[John_Joey]

... We just need to keep looking. B.O.

Us also, been 9 years though. Thinking maybe cut back to three months and with the money saved go somewhere exotic. Another option is VRBO a month at a time in all the key snowbird states. Last option is a FL casita with a few fire sale cruises thrown in each winter.

The luster of RV'ing for us is wearing off, and is becoming work. Never a good sign to just staying the coarse. Time for a new chapter.

[pontiac_east]

We"ve been in the Mesa ,AZ area for the last 9 yrs & still we come back. Finally stopped workcamping after 7 yrs & now spent Nov - May each year in a 55+ MH & RV resort park that costs us $2100 for the year & fly back & forth back to MI. We get to keep our 5th wheel in the same spot also. You get to & enjoy the Dry Heat because we have everything VERY nearby, no flies & haven't seen a live snake since coming here. In the desert, we have a few days with strong winds,BUT nothing real bad.

[2gypsies1]

B.O. Plenty wrote:
We're retired and old but not "old". Still looking for a place where Karoake, line dancing, pot lucks and bingo aren't the only things to do. That gets really tiring. been to AZ and TX. Like the AZ weather but like the TX landscape. We just need to keep looking.

So.... what do you like to do that you haven't found?

[B_O__Plenty]

We're retired and old but not "old". Still looking for a place where Karoake, line dancing, pot lucks and bingo aren't the only things to do. That gets really tiring. been to AZ and TX. Like the AZ weather but like the TX landscape. We just need to keep looking.

B.O.

[ventrman]

We stay at Mission Bell RV Park in the RGV. We love it!

[sonora]

stepdad wrote:
Thanks everyone for your replies, I really appreciated it. We decided on Arizona for our first attempt at snow-birding starting in October. We'll be staying at Leaf Verde rv park just west of Phoenix. We're excited!

~Thanks again, John

This is a great choice. You have all the shopping you will need just a stones throw from the park and just far enough west of Phoenix as to be out of the traffic.

[cruiserjs]

Ol'coot wrote:
Not sure where djgarcia from Calif. was going or coming down from, but if they were on I-15 when they hit that hail storm it sure was not in the state of Texas.
I-15 runs north from San Diego through LA, then Vegas and heads up north.

Old Coot - read his post!! Was on I 10 thru' Texas!!

[Dave_s_Wife]

Edd505 I'm with you!
We've spent the winter in Elephant Butte, NM. There's hiking, Biking, sailing/boating kayaking, jeep and ATV activties. The folks here are great. Pricing is right. We were in Tucson last winter and Florida the winter before $$$ both places. The park we're in has an indoor pool, hot tub, small exercise room, Potlucks,happy hours, jam sessions. In Truth or Consequences about 3 miles away there's a great art community, museums and restaurants. Best of all no hubbub of city life, very laid back. There is history everywhere. It got a little chilly for a couple days. One day we saw about 10 snowflakes but otherwise there was outside time for most of our stay. They do great things around Christmas. There are 3000 Luminarias and the locals do bon fires at the lake. The locals do food and goodies for donations. It's very festive.

Love it, coming back!!!

Sheila aka....

[joebedford]

We alternate between Arizona, Texas and Florida (not so much Florida anymore despite being a lot closer for us). Arizona this coming winter.

Each has its advantages and disadvantages. For us, not one of the three is definitely better or worse than the other two.

Stay at both and see what works for you.