A couple of years in the past, Allie and I have been shifting each 1-2 weeks in our fifth-wheel. We have been using our Thousand Trails Membership and seeing as many locations as we may whereas nonetheless working part-time and operating our small enterprise. This was a fast-paced way of life and we have been loving each minute of it. We had visited dozens of states, nationwide parks, and campgrounds by the point we landed in Arizona for our second winter as full-time RVers.
Finding a Home Base
During our time in Camp Verde (simply south of Sedona), COVID started to unfold within the USA and all of our future campground reservations have been canceled. We had been planning to journey for a full yr by way of the state of California however discovered ourselves with out plans or locations to go. We have been capable of keep long-term in our website in Camp Verde, however it bought us considering that we needed a extra everlasting house base. Maybe we wouldn’t be there full-time, however it might nonetheless be someplace we may at all times go or return to with our 42-foot house on wheels.
This was uncharted territory for us, so we started with researching campgrounds that supply long-term rental choices. We struggled with researching on-line and located one of the best ways to collect data was to name campgrounds instantly and communicate with the employees. Many RV parks don’t have up to date or informative web sites, particularly with regards to longer-term rental choices. We discovered that some campgrounds enable a month-to-month price (which frequently included utilities and facilities), whereas others provide annual leases (that had extra charges for utilities and facilities).
Campground Considerations
After discovering such a wide selection of choices, we sat right down to make a listing of priorities for us as we moved ahead to decide on a location. Here are among the issues we thought-about:
- Location: We knew we needed to be someplace that’s principally temperate. We additionally knew we needed quick access to nature (forest, rivers, lakes, ocean, mountain, and many others). We additionally knew we didn’t need to be instantly in or close to a serious metropolis, however shut sufficient to at least one to entry healthcare, group, and many others.
- Budget: We weren’t going to interrupt the financial institution on a everlasting website as a result of we nonetheless needed the liberty to journey, but in addition as a result of we selected this life to simplify our funds and work much less general.
- Amenities: We didn’t have many wants on this space, however we knew it might be good to be in a campground with some safety and resort-features (equivalent to a pool or clubhouse).
What to Look For in a Long-Term Campground
If you might be contemplating long-term campground choices, we advise you consider what’s or could also be necessary to you in your day-to-day life.
- Do you could be positioned inside a selected college district?
- Do you want entry to public transit or city facilities?
- Do you want facilities equivalent to a exercise room, pool, playground?
Beyond our wants and needs record for our future home-base campground, we start to consider what we would want in our particular person website. Some of those necessities are dictated by the kind of RV you’ve. For us, this meant a website that would accommodate our 42-foot fifth wheel with 5 slideouts (in addition to our RAM 3500 long-bed, dual-wheeled truck). Other than contemplating dimension, we determined it was important for us to have full-hook-ups. This meant 50AMP electrical, water, and sewer. Our website additionally got here with cable, broadband web (for a further cost), and the choice to have a 100-gallon propane tank placed on our website (that’s crammed up on a rotating foundation by an area firm). We additionally knew we needed a extra personal website in a smaller campground loop at our resort. This meant that there was much less car site visitors and that almost all of our neighbors have been older and quieter than among the bigger loops with households that had a number of younger youngsters.
Try a Visit Before You Commit
We would strongly recommend attempting out your future home-base campground earlier than committing to an annual lease or longer-term keep. While you’re there, stroll round and chat with the locals, seize a espresso close by, and even scope out the native library and grocery retailer. Think about what you’ll want to have near house whenever you settle in for an extended keep. We really feel lucky to have discovered a campground and a website that we really feel snug in. After just a few months within the campground, we seen an end-site, tucked extra into the woods, grew to become obtainable so we shortly scooped it up! We have been right here ever since.
Our Perfect Campground
We have been fortunate to discover a website at Mt. Hood RV Village (https://mthoodvillagerv.com/) that match most of our necessities and even had a number of extras that we hadn’t considered after we initially began wanting. The resort is positioned about one hour exterior of Portland, OR and provides a number of facilities in addition to a detailed proximity to Mt. Hood National Forest. The resort itself is gated with a passcode to enter, provides a restaurant, pool, scorching tub, sauna, fashionable bathhouses, a playground, river entry, and trails that result in a state recreation website subsequent door! You may even lease out the clubhouse rooms for personal occasions and events at no additional cost. There is a small campground retailer on website, dumpsters in each loop, and a number of other various kinds of websites to select from. Mt. Hood RV Village is a part of the Encore addition to Thousand Trails memberships, so we had stayed on the campground beforehand and knew we’d discover it to really feel like house.
We haven’t traveled as a lot with the RV since getting our annual website, however we all know we’ll sooner or later. For the previous couple of years, we have now gotten to know and love our mountain city. We have expanded our small enterprise by way of our group connections. We incessantly take weekends away at AirBnBs, do lengthy day journeys to the coast and have even pushed throughout the nation with out our fifth-wheel in tow! We nonetheless see as many locations as attainable, however really feel assured that we made the fitting option to discover a home-base that works for us. If you might be fascinated by discovering a everlasting parking spot to your home-on-wheels, know that there are a selection of choices obtainable and relaxation assured that you’ll find one which works for you!