Where do you spend your winters?

[MichiganTravele]

As fulltimers we go south when it's cold up north and north with it's hot down south. We have "wintered" in Key West and southern Texas. I'd be interested in knowing what good spots are out there that we haven't considered yet.

Please share your favorite winter locations and please include the RV park/campground that you liked best there.

[lonestarbike]

We stayed in Fredericksburg Texas last winter. It was nice most of the time with a couple short lived cold fronts. This year were staying southeast of Lubbock Texas. There's been way too much winter for me but we're visiting and helping family here. We're headed to east Texas near Caddo Lake in a couple weeks then to the Texas Hill Country till mid April. We've talked about getting a New Mexico State Park pass. We love NM would like to spend a year discovering all the parks. We've been to a few in the past and really enjoyed our stay. Our favorite so far has been Villanueva State Park.

[Gjac]

I have never stayed in any one campground for more than a week but like to travel to different areas. I particularity liked North central Florida and free diving in the springs. Last year water froze out side the RV so it does get cold there. Liked the night hike through the everglades and seeing alligators feeding and Big cypress in south Florida. Saw a Florida panther in Dupruis preserve last year just east of Okeechobee last year. San Padre island was nice for a weeks stay as was Quartzite. Salvation Mtn in Ca. was an interesting area. Have been to the Keys many times but not in the MH, would like to go but hear that it is difficult to get reservations in the winter.

[Pamelajo]

It's hovered around freezing several nights but we haven't had any problems. The temps have been pretty consistently in the 60's during the day and 40's at night. We use an electric space heater and keep the RV thermostat at around 68-70 and it doesn't run much-never during the day and usually just a couple of times each night for a few minutes. We have the windows open most afternoons and even had to turn the AC on a few times.

I've heard New Mexico can get pretty cold in the winter but it has been mild this year. It's not as nice as the weather they are having in Arizona though. It might be a gamble buying the park pass just for the winter season. We had already used ours enough that we were prepared to head to Arizona or Texas if it got too cold here.

There is a blog called Travels With Andy that has a lot of information about the New Mexico State Parks. He doesn't talk about them much lately but his earlier entries are full of info. He even created a New Mexico State Parks app that you can purchase on iTunes.

[EsoxLucius]

Thanks much! After Alaska this coming summer I'll be able to check out the southwest for winter. New Mexico's state parks sound like a good deal if staying a couple of months. Have there been many nights below freezing at those parks?

[Pamelajo]

EsoxLucius wrote:
What are the specifics of the park pass? I only find the $225 annual non-resident annual camping permit which reduces your camping fee from $14 to $4. You would have to camp 23 nights to break even.

That's the one we're using. We bought it at the beginning of the month in April of last year and it's good until May 1st of this year. We spent April, May and June exploring Eastern New Mexico-Bottomless Lakes S.P, Santa Rosa S.P, Fort Sumner, Storrie, etc then did a trip back to Maryland July-October. We were back in New Mexico by the middle of October.

We'll probably stick around here another month or two so our cost will be closer to $5.00 a night than $4. I'm sorry, I should have said that. It's still a good deal if you love New Mexico, which we do. We've been to a balloon festival in Roswell, Billy the Kid's grave, the Turquoise Trail, Hatch, hiking, biking, rockhounding-lots of fun stuff. If we do the park pass again some year, we'll probably get N.M fishing licenses,too.

The big draw for me has been the privacy, big sites and beautiful views. I'm not big on private parks and crowds but we haven't done much boondocking yet. This has been a good solution for us-best of both worlds.

I took this shot right outside my door last evening...

[EsoxLucius]

What are the specifics of the park pass? I only find the $225 annual non-resident annual camping permit which reduces your camping fee from $14 to $4. You would have to camp 23 nights to break even.

[Pamelajo]

We're in Southwestern New Mexico. We've been going back and forth between Elephant Butte State Park and Caballo Lake State Park. I mentioned the park pass but I meant to say that it was a State Park pass. There are other state parks in this region but we like the desert/lake/mountain views so much at these parks, we haven't tried the others yet. We'll probably head down to City of Rocks or Rockhound eventually.

I think the New Mexico State Park pass is the best deal around for RVers. We spent a few months here last Spring and then had to head back East pretty quickly for a family visit. That trip totally blew our budget but a few months back here have more than made up for it. If you like large sites, privacy, quiet and beautiful views, you can't beat the four bucks a night sites here. I'll try to post a pic of our view later when I'm not on my tablet.

[DianneOK]

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder....different strokes, folks....and that is why you have wheels......

[EsoxLucius]

Pamelajo wrote:
We've been in New Mexico since November and we're loving it here. We have a New Mexico park pass so we can stay in a water/electric site for $4.00 a night. The temps have been mild and the sites are huge and private with beautiful views. Right now I'm looking out my window at desert, a lake and mountains. So beautiful.

We were planning to head to Az or Ca but we love it here so much we decided to stay. It's warmer in those areas but not by much and it's not as crowded here. It's like boon docking with hook-ups.

Where?

[Cummins12V98]

Pamelajo wrote:
We've been in New Mexico since November and we're loving it here. We have a New Mexico park pass so we can stay in a water/electric site for $4.00 a night. The temps have been mild and the sites are huge and private with beautiful views. Right now I'm looking out my window at desert, a lake and mountains. So beautiful.

We were planning to head to Az or Ca but we love it here so much we decided to stay. It's warmer in those areas but not by much and it's not as crowded here. It's like boon docking with hook-ups.

Are you in Northern New Mexico? My wife and I have traveled thru the lower part of the state and thought it was the most God awful place we had ever been.

Land Of Enchantment? I hope the northern part is because the southern part sure is not!

[Pamelajo]

We've been in New Mexico since November and we're loving it here. We have a New Mexico park pass so we can stay in a water/electric site for $4.00 a night. The temps have been mild and the sites are huge and private with beautiful views. Right now I'm looking out my window at desert, a lake and mountains. So beautiful.

We were planning to head to Az or Ca but we love it here so much we decided to stay. It's warmer in those areas but not by much and it's not as crowded here. It's like boon docking with hook-ups.

[ncrowley]

I am staying in an RV park in Hurricane, Utah. We have been here for 3 months now. There are a number of people that full time and spend the winters here. It is just East of St George in the SW corner of the state. The winters are not as mild as Phoenix but they are very nice. Lows around 30 and highs around 60. Lots of sun. Lots and lots of activities, indoors and out. Amazing scenery. About 25 miles from Zion national park. About 1-1/2 hours from skiing.

[Nolan]

Here.

[Larryzv7]

32vld wrote:

hawkman541 wrote:
Santa Maria, Ca, along with Solvang, Pismo Beach, Grover Beach. Can't beat the weather. Google this area, and see for yourself. Good Luck P.S. Hidden gems are Vandenberg AFB or Camp Roberts.

Camp at Vandenberg AFB?

Camp Roberts and Vandenberg AFB are only for those who have a military base access pass, usually DOD employees, veterans, and military personnel.

Camp Roberts is a quiet place with full hookups for $10/night but there are no amenities, except fishing and hunting. Vandenberg AFB has high security and every time you leave and re-enter the base be prepared for a through security check. Vandenberg has a really good campground; but the one thing about Air Force bases that I don’t care for are the coming and going of planes, loud jet engines, etc., and sometimes in the middle of the night, You usually don’t get that at the Marine Corp, Navy, Coast Guard, and Army base (Famcamps) campgrounds.