Seasonal for the first time...

[nana2callie]

We are setting our TT up seasonal this spring for the first time for an indefinite period of time. What do I need to know? Please share all your helpful hints and experiences... thanks.

[colliehauler]

dodge guy wrote:

yeabuddy wrote:

dodge guy wrote:
I tried seasonal for a year, hated it.
Good luck!

Don't let dodge guy fool you, he loves seasonal camping and can see how awesome it is for a lot of people.......... he loves when I do this :B

OH, it's you! One of the seasonals that think they own the campground. Thanks for reminding me.........

When you're a seasonal make sure you get tell the weekenders who is boss in "your" campground! 😉

And don't you forget it!:B

[doxiluvr]

We loved being "seasonal" and our seasonal site was in upper Wisconsin. We live in Arizona. So it was quite a trip up each May but we would be there through September. We always had to haul some new clothes up, tool chest (DH insisted and a few other miscellaneous things. I did grocery shopping after we got up there and it took a day or so to get stuff put away and get the patio set up, but it was wonderful. It was nice to be part of the community and we had other seasonal friends there and of course made some new ones each year also. When we did take a few side trips during the summer, we left the electric on; rolled up the awning and turned off the water and locked the door. We never had a problem otherwise with things missing or with critters. Our park had a great clubhouse, various activities and a very nice laundry room and rest rooms. We had some daily/weekend campers but they mostly obeyed the various campground rules and it was very nice. I do miss going up there, but we wanted something a little closer to home and are now in Colorado for the summers. We winterized our TT and left it on site in Wisconsin for the winter and now in Colorado (Mountain Views RV Park/Resort), we can't leave it on site, but do store it indoors a few miles away. Since we live in Arizona we don't feel the need to use it in the winter. So we just pick it up when we get up there and take it to our site. So it can be done and I do think you will love it on your seasonal site.

[davosfam]

We love ours. We always turn the water and propane off but leave the trailer plugged in to run the fridge. We do not leave our awning open while we are gone. We leave food in our trailer but only because we haven't had a problem with critters. We are in a large "campground" and love our neighbors. There are some politics (think HOA-type campground) but we stay out of them and just enjoy our lot.

[dodge_guy]

yeabuddy wrote:

dodge guy wrote:
I tried seasonal for a year, hated it.
Good luck!

Don't let dodge guy fool you, he loves seasonal camping and can see how awesome it is for a lot of people.......... he loves when I do this :B

OH, it's you! One of the seasonals that think they own the campground. Thanks for reminding me.........

When you're a seasonal make sure you get tell the weekenders who is boss in "your" campground! 😉

[yeabuddy]

dodge guy wrote:
I tried seasonal for a year, hated it.
Good luck!

Don't let dodge guy fool you, he loves seasonal camping and can see how awesome it is for a lot of people.......... he loves when I do this :B

[dodge_guy]

I tried seasonal for a year, hated it. nothing new to see, taking care of property on the weekend, keeping the roof of the trailer clean if you have a heavy cover of trees, you don`t want leaves and branches laying on the roof.

otherwise, you`ll need everything you have already for camping. nothing else should be needed.

Good luck!

[race14girl]

We have our tt on a seasonal site and love it! If my SO is working late, I can still head out and start enjoying the weekend.
Get to the park, unload the car, turn the water on, roll out the electrical awning, grab an adult beverage (cold from being left in the fridge that we leave running), and finally, pull the zero gravity chairs out of the shed. In less than 10 minutes, I'm relaxed and enjoying life at the campsite.
.....is it May yet!?

[rjf7g]

We've got two sites at a seasonal campground - that way we can have space to ourselves AND share with our friends and family. I can get off of work at 5pm on Friday and be sitting around the campfire by 7pm. We are looking for a cheap class C to take on excursions, but I haven't found the perfect one at the right price.

[rjf7g]

We've got two sites at a seasonal campground - that way we can have space to ourselves AND share with our friends and family. I can get off of work at 5pm on Friday and be sitting around the campfire by 7pm. We are looking for a cheap class C to take on excursions, but I haven't found the perfect one at the right price.

[Merrykalia]

We did this for several years when our son was younger. DH and I both got off work at 3:00 pm on Friday and by 3:15, we were on our way.

We kept clothing at the camper, there was a grocery store about 5 minutes away from the camper. We were on a private lot on the lake and had a pontoon boat, also. We had one neighbor, who we actually leased the lot from. She kept watch over the camper during the week.

When we left, we would turn off the water and bring in the awning. That's it. We left the power on, the fridge turned on and condiments left in the fridge. We dumped any leftovers, milk that would spoil, etc.

We had a deck and chairs that were left there. When we closed down, we would fold the chairs and lay them flat so the wind was less likely to get them.

During the winter, we left it on the site. We would winterize the camper, just like it was sitting in front of our house. Made sure the windows were closed, turned off all power, water, dumped the tanks, and locked up.

It was most enjoyable.

[campincandice]

We love the lifestyle! We leave our slides out, although we do "exercise" them a couple of times during the summer. Fridge on, electric and propane stay on. We turn the water off when we leave, and close our electric awning. When we had the manual awning we just tipped it way down, and never had a problem.

Tanks were emptied when full, and we rarely had a smell issue. Also, we kept a vent open (with cover) when we were gone.

Bottom line, we arrive on Friday night, unlock, open the awning and crack open an adult beverage. We keep clothes at the TT, along with most everything we need during the course of the weekend. Super easy and enjoyable!

Enjoy!

[CashandCompany]

Being able to camp every weekend, just an hour from home has made my life so much happier, which in turn has made my husband happier. 😉 We keep food and clothes at the camper so there is minimum we need to bring fresh each week. We turn our water off when we're not there but stay hooked up to the electric.

We lucked out and have a bunch of wonderful neighbors. We plan a menu and get together every Saturday for fun and games. We get together with this same group of people once a month during the "off" season for dinners out. Being seasonal has allowed us to make a whole new batch of life long friends.
We also became familier with the owner and workers at our park who have also become friends of ours.
The good part of seasonal camping is that you make it what you want it to be. If you want to spend time alone, so be it. If you want to be a social butterfly, the makings are all there.

Enjoy yourself!

[Kittykath]

Congratulations and enjoy the simplicity of this style of camping! Great threads have been popping up recently addressing your question.

My best hint would be to write yourself a closing list. Might be less to do now, but still just as important to remember. Take into consideration your water hookup, water heater, awning, slides, A/C, food, etc.

You will soon appreciate the familiarity of your "neighborhood" and permanent neighbors, and will watch out for each other. I've found this style of camping to be much less stressful. I don't miss the domestic disputes while setting up during the mosquito breeding season. If your park allows it, you might be able to leave firewood there, a boat, a full-sized grill on-site, lights, mats and other items that are typically a pain to pack and unpack. Get to know the caretakers. They'll also keep an eye on your site. You'll make some really great lifetime friends.

Welcome to the seasonal camping club 🙂

[AirForceAngler]

Does this mean you're going to be leaving it on a spot full time? We did this for two years (towed it home in the winter) and it was pretty nice not having to pull it each time. Setting up wasn't any different than what you do when you pull out to a new spot. A downside to this is that when you do go to your TT for a trip, you have to pack a lot more into your vehicle. Things like groceries, clothes etc. You will also be bringing more home with you at the end like laundry. These are things that we usually loaded into the TT at home before we left on a trip. The laundry would ride home in the TT vs the TV as well.
I know a lot of people left their fridges on the whole time also, but we always turned if off and emptied it out at the end of a trip. I also brought the slide in when we left, just to be safe, but most left theirs out. You will want to close your awning also. I've seen a lot of people that leave it out but tilt it all the way down but I've never trusted that. Since my fridge was off, I also unplugged from power when we left and disconnected the battery so the LP detector wouldn't run it down.
You'll probably want to get some tire covers if it's not in a shaded area. The sun ruins tires quickly on an RV. Will you have access to a city water line or will you be filling your fresh water tank? The campground didn't have enough connections for everyone so we used the tank and I'd empty it after each trip also so the water wouldn't get stale. If you're on city water, I'd still shut if off and empty the water heater each time as that water can get real nasty pretty quick. Just make sure you turn the heater off.
It's great to not have to tow each time, just be prepared to haul more stuff with you in your vehicle each time.