Hello All! Allow me to introduce myself. I am thinking very seriously about an RV. I have always lived in an apartment and now i find that i have very few things anymore. i have always loved to travel and for the last 30 years have been moving around from apartment to apartment when this year it occured to me that living in an RV would suit me to a TEE! for me its all about the scenery and the good weather. Currently i have an apartment in Las Vegas and i love it here for the scenery. ( but getting out of here though before it its 120 deg in ths shade LOL) my question is.....can anyone tell me where the RV parks are with great scenery in the western part of the country. i would plan to make extended stays of 4 to 6 months at a time...weather permitting. I will have a trailer as opposed to a motor home so i would be arriving when the weather was good up north and then back down south when the weather turns cold. i think maybe a move 3 times a year would be ok but i am daunted by the number of parks there are and have NO idea where to begin looking for monthly places that have a 4 to 6 month stays permitted...and are scenic. my number one concern is NOT looking at the back of someone elses RV. Mine will have LOADS of windows and while i am in there working ( have an online job) i hope to be able to rest my eyes on beautiful scenery. i am a single woman so yes i want to be safe and it would be nice to have a quiet place that was not too expensive. i dont care about amenities but i do care about safety and scenery....and being near walmart or costco would be nice as well. Soooo tell me....am i asking for too much? or do places like this exist? if i cant enjoy the travel and the scenery....then maybe i should not get an RV to live in but..... it really would suit me perfectly since i like to move with the weather. i have my own internet connection and i would have my own dish for TV. all i need is the right place to park so my windows have a view and i am safe. If you can help me please send me an email.... or post it here. my email is : annhuth@hotmail.com any help you can give me going north or south in the west would be most appreciated. thanks SO much !
QUOTE(QuietTraveler @ Feb 21 2008, 05:54 AM) [snapback]10341[/snapback] Hello All! Allow me to introduce myself. I am thinking very seriously about an RV. I have always lived in an apartment and now i find that i have very few things anymore. i have always loved to travel and for the last 30 years have been moving around from apartment to apartment when this year it occured to me that living in an RV would suit me to a TEE! for me its all about the scenery and the good weather. Currently i have an apartment in Las Vegas and i love it here for the scenery. ( but getting out of here though before it its 120 deg in ths shade LOL) my question is.....can anyone tell me where the RV parks are with great scenery in the western part of the country. i would plan to make extended stays of 4 to 6 months at a time...weather permitting. I will have a trailer as opposed to a motor home so i would be arriving when the weather was good up north and then back down south when the weather turns cold. i think maybe a move 3 times a year would be ok but i am daunted by the number of parks there are and have NO idea where to begin looking for monthly places that have a 4 to 6 month stays permitted...and are scenic. my number one concern is NOT looking at the back of someone elses RV. Mine will have LOADS of windows and while i am in there working ( have an online job) i hope to be able to rest my eyes on beautiful scenery. i am a single woman so yes i want to be safe and it would be nice to have a quiet place that was not too expensive. i dont care about amenities but i do care about safety and scenery....and being near walmart or costco would be nice as well. Soooo tell me....am i asking for too much? or do places like this exist? if i cant enjoy the travel and the scenery....then maybe i should not get an RV to live in but..... it really would suit me perfectly since i like to move with the weather. i have my own internet connection and i would have my own dish for TV. all i need is the right place to park so my windows have a view and i am safe. If you can help me please send me an email.... or post it here. my email is : annhuth@hotmail.com any help you can give me going north or south in the west would be most appreciated. thanks SO much !
Check out this book written by a single lady who is a work camper... Yes, You Can Full-time RVing for the Single Person http://www.lulu.com/content/714386 she's camping with a trailer and loving it for 3 years now Good luck
Ann, Welcome to the group. You can find tons of good information here. As to what state to travel into, check them all out. You will find some campground great and some not so great. We find Colorado, Washington, Oregon, Utah, Arizona, Wyoming to me great and all the rest not far back as a group. Get a copy of Trailer Life and use this web site to find nice places. The Army Core of Engineers book is also very good. You can see more than 41,000 plus reviews on this site from people who have been to campground and wrote up information. Enjoy the RV life.
Ann, There are far too many nice and scenic parks in the west to list them all. The best route I have found it to see them in travel. Welcome to the forum and good luck to you in an of you future endeavors.
Thanks everyone for your emails and your postings.... i know i will have more questions as i get further into this. the amount of information on parks is overwhelming so i will be sorting thru this for some time. thanks so much for your help.
QuietTraveler Welcome to the forum, sorry we can not be of any help as to your inquiry of info on the western areas as we travel the New England States and live in the Northeast. Just wanted to say, "welcome".........
Get a big dog bowl and water dish and leave outside your trailer door. Keep a tape recorder handy with a big dog barking on it. Any sounds near your camper at night, play the recording, scold loudly "Adolph please be quiet, I'm going to let you out now." Though you might not be popular with the neighbors if you play this everytime a small animal wanders by.
QUOTE(HappiestCamper @ Feb 22 2008, 07:21 AM) [snapback]10359[/snapback] Get a big dog bowl and water dish and leave outside your trailer door. Keep a tape recorder handy with a big dog barking on it. Any sounds near your camper at night, play the recording, scold loudly "Adolph please be quiet, I'm going to let you out now." Though you might not be popular with the neighbors if you play this everytime a small animal wanders by. oh thats very funny.... i like it! something to remember! thanks alot.
Hi Ann! I'm a "solo" traveller, too. Just remember, TRUST YOUR GUT! If you pull into a park and it doesn't "feel" right, GET THE **** OUT OF THERE!!!! I've heard this from lots of solo women, and I have experienced it myself. One time, I was travelling somewhere, and found a park on the internet that was convenient to where I wanted to go. I got there, and IT DIDN'T FEEL RIGHT so I left! Found out later that particular park was full of drug dealers and..... um..... "women with a certain entreprenurial spirit." As for fantastic scenery, to me, nothing beats the state parks. However, since you do a lot of online work, you may want to make sure you have some sort of "air card" for your work. If you don't have an air card, then stay at parks that have wireless. I heard that some of the State Parks in California are getting wireless. The parks where I live (Pacific Northwest) aren't doing that yet. If you travel to southern California like I did recently, well, the section of Interstate 5 between Bakersfield and Los Angeles is rather hairy, lots of traffic, lots of HUGE trucks, and a road surface that is so full of chuckholes you will think your RV is falling apart! JJ
Hello Quietraveler and welcome aboard. Am so glad JJ (DXSMac) replied I've learned SO MUCH from her willingness to chat about traveling alone! She's right about following your instincts...just like you do in the corporate world or wherever. Generally the folks in RV parks are friendly to a fault. I go up on top of the RV to caulk something and next thing...a couple guys appear to make sure I'm ok, etc., etc. DH (dear husband) is laughing inside the RV. I've found the MOST beautiful RV sites...have neither cel or air-card computer reception...ha! That's just me. Start off easy. Pick a town/city you'd like to see, then scout out the RV parks. I used Trailer Life for years...then discovered this site. Keep a logbook for reference. There are some incredable gems out there! Just do it. Even if you decide later to set some roots, you'll always treasure the experiences of seeing more of this country, more of it's people than from the windows of an apartment and TV screen. Cheers my dear B)
Hi QuietTraveler, Just "go for it". I full-timed for nearly 8 years my myself -- a single female. I never had a problem anywhere--just use some common sense about where you stay. There are so many beautiful places to see---and if you don't like it somewhere, you can move to somewhere else. I never stayed anyplace very long except for a couple of years taking care of my elderly Mom. Even then, I would get away for weekends or short trips. There are more and more single gals traveling, and lots of them just like you---living in an RV while working. It is a great lifestyle, but it is not for everyone. But, it sounds like you have thought it through and are ready to go. Since it sounds like this will be your first RV, I certainly recommend that you do your homework in choosing which one to buy. The quality of rigs goes from very bad to wonderful. One that would be okay for a weekend here and there or a vacation, would generally not be the quality that you would want for full-time. Lots of things to consider when making your decision so that you make the right one the first time.
QUOTE(Jurhee @ Feb 25 2008, 03:24 AM) [snapback]10397[/snapback] Since it sounds like this will be your first RV, I certainly recommend that you do your homework in choosing which one to buy. The quality of rigs goes from very bad to wonderful. One that would be okay for a weekend here and there or a vacation, would generally not be the quality that you would want for full-time. Lots of things to consider when making your decision so that you make the right one the first time. Homework, yes, very important, especially if you are going to "full-time." Also, explore the rigs on the lot, sit in them. You will get a "feel" on them. JJ
