Lazy Daze Owners' Group

Re: For full-timers: Why do you full-time?

Reply #50 – December 14, 2015, 05:52:33 pm

Yahoo Message Number: 157586

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Thanks Bob.  I reviewed a lot of info at the Escapee's website.  I'll be joining them, as well.  I want to save as much as I can during this journey.

Re: For full-timers: Why do you full-time?

Reply #52 – December 14, 2015, 06:06:53 pm

Yahoo Message Number: 157588

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Hi Betty,
 I have two years in which to buy a home of equal or lesser value in order to retain prop 13.  Riverside is no longer accepting it so now, it's either earthquake central South of San Francisco, snowy mountains west of Lake Tahoe, LA County or San Diego County.  I have to try to keep it for my son.  I can only imagine what the property taxes will look like in 20 years.  Frightening.  Hopefully they won't succeed in revoking it.

Mimi

Re: For full-timers: Why do you full-time?

Reply #54 – December 14, 2015, 06:38:49 pm

Yahoo Message Number: 157590

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Depending on your wants and needs there is a better deal in Pahrump than Escapees.
The Saddle West RV Park has a monthly rate of $400 which includes all utilities including cable TV. There are laundry facilities on site and clean bathroom/showers. This time of year if you stay at Escapees for a monthly rate the electrical charges will kill you. There WIFI is very unreliable where Saddle West works fine. The Escapees park is all gravel roads instead of pavement. Not fun after a thunderstorm. The biggest drawback is you can be kicked out any time. If you know you must stay in the area for awhile you can go to a preferred resort or casino RV park, pay for 3 months or more, and not get kicked out.

bobmoore14

Re: For full-timers: Why do you full-time?

Reply #56 – December 14, 2015, 06:53:49 pm

Yahoo Message Number: 157593

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Wow, $400 for all that!  Wow... I don't understand this getting kicked out.  They make you leave to make room for other people?  Well, I don't want to die from an electric bill, so that's definitely out anyway.  I guess it comes down to what you said.  The casinos are solid when it comes to services and saving money.  Is Saddle West secure?  Do you feel comfortable leaving your RV for part of a day?  I like the idea of security keeping an eye on things

Thanks Bob

Re: For full-timers: Why do you full-time?

Reply #58 – December 14, 2015, 07:34:12 pm

Yahoo Message Number: 157596

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I have never heard of anyone being kicked out of one of the Escapees co-op parks because the lot "owner" came back.
Yes, you may have to move to another spot and, at worse, stay in a boondocking spot for a day or two until another lot opens up.
Linda Hylton

Re: For full-timers: Why do you full-time?

Reply #60 – December 14, 2015, 07:49:31 pm

Yahoo Message Number: 157598

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"I have never heard of anyone being kicked out of one of the Escapees co-op parks because the lot "owner" came back."

Now you have. I was told no other place was available to rent. I could have boon docked for their 5 day limit. But when it's 30 degrees at night I prefer some electricity for heat. Also moving my motorcycles to an outdoor gravel lot was not something I wanted to do.

When you add up the cost of fuel making trips to town for supplies, the electricity bill Escapees charges, unreliable WIFI they charge for, only 2 bathrooms for the entire park in Pahrump, muddy gravel roads in winter, and the maintenance guy saying we need you to be in the middle of the driveway parked perfectly, etc. It comes down to harassment. I don't need it.

bobmoore14

Re: For full-timers: Why do you full-time?

Reply #62 – December 14, 2015, 07:51:49 pm

Yahoo Message Number: 157600

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I'm not Bob or Andy, but I DID live in Earthquake country (Bay Area) and owned a home under Prop. 13 there.  Purchased the house in 1987.  Today it is valued on Zillow at OVER FIVE times the amount we paid for it.  We had sold it in 1998, and after having survived the Loma Prieta earthquake in 1989 with no damage, we are not sorry.  Found out later that our house was sitting on solid granite when most of the Bay Area was sloshing back and forth on that October day.  We were on vacation at the time, and were in Phoenix when it happened.  What a shock.

It took us another nine years after the earthquake to get moved out of California, but we have not been back to the Bay Area since then.  The crowded conditions and increasing pollution, even in 1998, were, to us, unbearable.

Went without a house (but lots of "stuff" in storage) for almost a decade, and did not miss it.  Only illness forced us off our planned twenty-year fulltime path.  The surprise was that when unpacking some of my decades-old kitchen pots, pans, and other goods, the quality of those items, compared to what I had purchased in the interim, was unmistakably superior.  I'm so glad I kept them.

As we were fulltiming, while maintaining a storage place near hubby's family in Arizona, we considered everywhere we went as a possible home base.  After interminable evaluations, we never did find a place we liked better, and are still in Arizona today.  I would do the same again.

And, yes, we are members of the Escapees organization.  It will be 25 years this coming February.  We owned one of the quarter-acre lots at the place near Phoenix (Congress, AZ) for twelve years, but went there exactly twice over those years.   We lived in California (not terribly far away) and were later homebased in another part of Arizona, so you see that it is easy to pick the wrong place to buy into.  We checked out California, Washington and Oregon co-ops, as well as other ones in Arizona.

I applaud Lorna's success at Coarsegold.  It is a beautiful place.  I'm probably too old and lazy to try to make a move like that now, mostly because I like it here in Arizona just as well.  But starting from scratch . . . well, it's hard to say because each person's experiences along the way play into decisions.  One day - one thing feels absolutely right, and then a few days later it's - "what was I thinking?".

If you have the time to spend considering what you want to do, it might work in your favor to get some mileage, experience, and time under your belt before doing anything with permanent consequences.  The Escapee campgrounds might prove the easiest to handle if you want a permanent homebase fairly quickly, because it is fairly easy to disengage from the system if it isn't working for you.

We live in a mobile home community now, and it has its own RV campground attached.  This is kind of a hybrid of experience.  We like the permanence (and storage) of a house, but still have the ambience and friendliness that goes along with a camping venue.  This is NOT as easy a situation to change as an Escapee campground because these houses are owned outright with rental fees on the land.  So it is like any standalone house or apartment - it must be sold in order to rid oneself of the responsibilities of ownership.

So Bob's tactic of long-term leasing may or may not work out for you.  Rules may have changed over the years, but I was under the impression that when someone puts his lot into the rental pool, he effectively makes it unavailable for his own use for some designated period of time.  Perhaps this was some sort of emergency, or the rules have changed along the way.  I haven't looked into it for many, many years.  It would be good to enquire at the time.

You could keep something of a journal of your experiences, and then when it comes time to make some sort of decision, you can look back to see what you said about a certain place or experience.  If it says "Well, that was great, but I wouldn't want to do that EVERY YEAR", then that probably is not the thing you want to settle on as something permanent.  Be honest with yourself in evaluating your experiences as they happen.  The written words will help to jog your memory about what you see/did/felt at a certain venue.  Each experience will be unlike the one before it, and new doors that you don't expect will open all the time.

There are so many permutations of living in an RV, that it is really hard to sort it all out ahead of time.  Gathering information and experiencing the life at your own comfort level as time goes by will probably benefit you in your decision-making process.

I wish you good luck with this endeavour.

Virtual hugs,

Judie http://dorrieanne.wordpress.com

Re: For full-timers: Why do you full-time?

Reply #64 – December 14, 2015, 09:46:42 pm

Yahoo Message Number: 157606

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Hi Judie,
 That Loma Prieta quake was frightening.  You're very lucky you weren't there. I lived through the Northridge quake in '92, I think it was.  While I was far enough away to prevent any real damage, the after effects were awful.  The ground shook for me for weeks.  PTSD.  There is no way I would ever live in the Bay area.  It's so sad  because it's beautiful there and I love Santa Cruz.  I don't blame you for leaving.  You left for the same reasons I want to leave my area.  Too many people.  It's getting more and more polluted every day.  I used to do laps every weekend with my dog around Sterns Warf and the dog beach in Montecito, but it's dangerously polluted now.  Whenever I go to the EPA website to look for a place that isn't polluted, I realize I have to go where people aren't.
 Good for you for getting out.  It doesn't matter what the house is worth now,  it'll be worth zero with the next bad earthquake or the next bad tsunami.  To keep prop 13 one of the places I'd have to live is right on top of the San Andreas South of San Jose.  No thanks.  Honestly, I can't wait to get out of here.  I realized that, it doesn't matter where I live (barring earthquake country) if the people are wonderful.  That was a big part of my attraction to full time rving.
 I've thought about health problems popping up during my travels ( I'm no spring chicken).  That's really why I'd like to set up a home base somewhere near good medical care.  AZ is great for that.  You're in a wonderful place and I hope you're both feeling better these days.
 I agree about the well made products of yesteryear.  I have things that are 40 years old that I will never trade in for the junk made today. I am getting rid of a lot of stuff I don't need or want, but I will need a storage unit to stow a few old things.
 You know, what's really wonderful about your story is how you escaped to live a deliberate life. That's just what I'm looking for.  I'm tired of life beating me up every day; too many unkind people around here.  The environment is culturally sterile, as well.
 I looked up Coarsegold.  What a lovely place. I expect I'll make a few mistakes about where to settle in but, like you, I can pick up and try something else.  My only real concern is medical care.  If I have a medical emergency, I don't want an old prospector to show up with his pick! lol
 I'm going to sell my house anyway because it's time for me to make a move.  I'll have 18 mos to full-time and figure out what I'm going to do.  You know, my neighbors are just rotting in their houses watching tv.  I look at them and it terrifies me.  I can't be them.  If I stay here, there's a chance that will happen.
 I congratulate you and Bob for having the courage and respect for yourselves to get out to look for something better.  You're living a lighter life.  To me, that's living.  I will keep a journal.  I think that's a fantastic idea!  It might help me distill my thoughts.  I love that idea.  Thank you!
 I can't thank you enough for all this wonderful feedback.  I really enjoyed reading your story and wow, that should be in a blog somewhere.  It's a wonderful read.  Thank  you.

Mimi

Re: For full-timers: Why do you full-time?

Reply #66 – December 14, 2015, 10:18:00 pm

Yahoo Message Number: 157610

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Thanks Andy.  Yes, I was wondering if they also stored RV's and if it was secure.  I may need to leave my RV for a few weeks for some reason, so I was wondering if they also stored RV's.  The cost for the 5x5 is awesome.  What a deal.  I've added it to my list!  Thank you.

Mimi

Re: For full-timers: Why do you full-time?

Reply #68 – December 14, 2015, 10:46:54 pm

Yahoo Message Number: 157612

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A similar discussion about full-timing in another neighborhood.  Very interesting stuff.

http://www.irv2.com/forums/f92/what-led-to-your-decision-to-full-time-272907.html

Ed & Margee Fort Worth

Re: For Lazy Daze full-timers: Why do you full-time?

Reply #70 – September 23, 2018, 09:20:41 pm

Here ya go, Steve. A thread on Lazy Daze fulltimers. Now you can offer up your opinion on fulltiming in a Lazy Daze.

Chris