Cardinal RV Club

Need help.

My wife, our greyhound and me have an idea and need advice.

We live in Michigan so the time period we have to travel to/from a warn climate is limited. Our plan is to head south (east of the Mississippi) in late October. Travel the gulf area and eventually locate an RV park.

In December we would leave the 5th wheel either in a RV park or stored. We would then travel back to Michigan and spend the month at home with the family.

Travel in the winter with just the truck is not a concern, but dragging a 5th wheel is.

In January we would travel back south, and possibly head west or just stay until March / April before heading home with the 5th wheel.

We would really appreciate any advice including:
· suggestions,
· places to stay,
· are we nuts,
· what are we forgetting,
· how do you full timers do it?



Thank you

Hi, that sounds like a pretty good plan to me and I'll bet that Bruce, in his socks and flip-flops (winter attire), will have some good ideas on where to stay.

Rob

ply1937 wrote: We would really appreciate any advice including:
· suggestions, Relax your worries a bit and play it by ear, that is how full-timers do it. There are plenty of options open. Keep in mind what "recreational" stands for and have some fun.
· places to stay, If you plan to go to popular destinations doing touristy things, make reservations. These areas are often crowded even in winter down here, if you get stuck without a site head back to an interstate highway as the parks are less popular on the big highways and you can often find a site even on holidays. Check your trailerlife directory for high rated places and since you are on extended trip ask about weekly rates or monthly rates, big savings over nightly stops. State Parks can be very nice also (some even full hook-ups) and reasonable rates, most states allow up to 2 week stays.
· are we nuts, Probably, or at least everyone will tell you so. Ignore them and go be nuts for a while, it's great fun. Keep a positive attitude and your trip will be more enjoyable.
· what are we forgetting, Do you have someone to look after your mail? Once you are sitting still a few days you can have them forward it to you. Anything else you forgot can be dealt with (once again relax, thinking is simpler when relaxed).
· how do you full timers do it?We continually play it by ear and only plan a few days in advance. We just try to enjoy the trip.

Feel free to PM me any specific questions, I may be slow to respond as I am at work in a distant time zone. I am not real familiar with the "east of the mississippi" area (might be over that way in Nov or Jan), but know "west of the mississippi" pretty well.

Top Sail Hill State Park in FL is absolutely beautiful and worth a stay if you are looking at east of the Mississippi, it is just east of Destin.

If you are thinking of heading to Texas then I'm sure Bruce can help and I'll throw in what little knowlege I have

IMO, I would probably leave my RV in storage down here, rather than an RV park but it depends on how the monthly rates compare.

Apart from that - I can highly recommend TX in the winter months. Words like "winterize" and "winter storage" just don't come up It's the best time to camp!!

Great advice from Bruce and Jenny.... Are you nuts??? You're nuts if you don't do it!! On the gulf coast there are several choices, there's Gulf Shores state park, several casino rv parks, If you have a Golden Age or Golden access card, the Louisiana state parks are half price, the Mississippi state parks are a 15 or 20% discount if you want to go the state park route, all COE parks in every state is half price for card holders. In our travels, we are always seeng rv parks that are not on the internet or listed in a camping book, we've ran across a treasure or two that way, seeing a sign and pulling in. Like Bruce said, Relax and enjoy!!

If thinking about the East Texas or Louisiana Gulf Coast, you may want to call ahead. South of Port Oconner, TX was not affected by the storms. Don't know about Mississippi. A lot of "Snow Birds" come down about the same time, but there has always been open spots where I have been. The smaller parks usually cater to the snow birds, with pot lucks and activities. I met a lot of folks a couple of years ago, and most were back last year.
Other than that, have fun!

Thank you all very much. Your advice is really appreciated. We should be leaving late this week (10/12/2008) or early next week. First to Gettysburg, then down to Savannah (surprise my wife with a meal at Paula Dean's restaurant). After that I'm following your advice and traveling the coast toward Texas after testing Florida.

This site is great and so are all of you that make it so.

Hey ply...if you want to surprise your wife with a meal at Paula Deans, you better get there early and get your name on the list. We got there at 10 am (the trolley driver told us if we wanted to eat lunch there, we better get off the trolley right then and get our name on the list)...they were already booked up for lunch!! We were only there for the day, and it was an hour's drive back to the cg, so we didn't try to book dinner reservations. Savanna is a beautiful little town, about every othr block is a park with big beautiful oak trees. One of my biggest regrets is that we didn't stay at a cg there and do more exploring while there. Oh well, maybe that will be another trip one day....lol If you come thru south Louisiana on your trip, give us a call....would love to meet you guys!!! Check your pm....sending phone numbers

Linda

OK we made it to Paula's for lunch -- I have pictures of a 1/2 block line at 9:00am while names for reservations are only accepted beginning at 9:30am. Finding a parking spot proved to be more of an issue than the meal. I had broiled scallops spoiled because I had to exit the restaurant to add time to my parking meter. If I could do it over again, I would surely spend more time at the riverfront. Free parking and and a great atmosphere including Jazz and food.

I'm sending this email from Top Sail -- What a great recommendation -- This place is SO beautiful -- Thanks for the advice.

Glad to hear you are enjoying your travels. Top Sail at this time of year is great - no crowds, great weather and a beautiful park.

We will be spending a few days at the Army Core of Engineers "Eastbank" lake Seminole, GA, March 18th for 4 days and then go to TopSail Preserve Sate Park, FL for a week.. That is a great rv campground. Thats one of the few time we are hapy to be FL senior residents (half price).

It is a great park and if you have your bike with you, the weather is perfect for bike riding in that park!! If you really like to ride bikes and can go for awhile, try going outside the park and visiting some of the little shops and coffee houses not too far away.