Which are the best clubs for the money?

[gracewriter]

I was just looking over Mount Hood Village in Oregon which is only 30 miles from my house and clicked on "specials." It lists if you are a member of 1000 mile club you can stay for $15 a night as opposed to the regular $50 we've been paying.

But when I look on the 1000 mile club website there is no listing for Mount Hood Village. In fact there aren't many listings at all for Oregon in General on that site.

This is really confusing. Like how many other sites take 1000 mile club that aren't listed on the 1000 mile club site???

we also saw Good Sam's club. But it only gives you about a two dollar discount.

We plan to camp a LOT hopefully on weekends and weekdays, (my husband has a really odd schedule). The $499 a year for 1000 miles sounds like a bargain but they only have about 7 sites listed on their site and don't mention, like I said, Mount Hood Village???

Since we had a terrible camping excursion I'm figuring out more questions to ask. We've only had the camper for a few weeks now.

We mainly want to camp Oregon/Washington area. Mount Hood Village would be perfect because it's so wooded and close to home so it doesn't cost an arm and leg to get there--and so far we don't need a reservation. In fact, today they said we can get in for the weekend which is unheard of in Oregon public campgrounds.

So my original question is: What are other clubs out there that can give us great deals like this.

I didn't buy the camper to sit in the drive way to look at. My husband gets about 14 days a month off and I was expecting and EXCITED about taking it out way more often than we can afford at $50 a night. Public campgrounds up here are booked as far as 9 months in advance on weekends. Had we known this we probably wouldn't have bought a camper to begin with. Maybe a tent.

We also want to camp all winter long too.

This is going to get crazy expensive and I can't figure out BLMs and stuff. It's been driving me bat s*** trying to figure out questions to ask when I don't even know the questions to ask.

Sorry this is so long. Had a really bad day camping, yep, that's actually possible when you think you are getting 3 nights and only end up with one and it cost you an arm and leg in gas just to get there. What a waste, we could have driven there in the car, spent the day and came home for about $15.00. Now we've got damage to the trailer as we scraped a building getting out of there...but that's another story. Talk about buyer's remorse.

This has to get better.

Can anyone make any suggestions about these kinds of RV clubs that give decent discounts?

Thanks very much for your help.

[gracewriter]

Another question....

If you want to camp a lot, should you join more than one club?

[WheelingIt]

Personally I like Passport America. You can get up to 50% off (there are restrictions depending on the park). Check the Passport America website and see if there are any parks close to you that take it. Then call them and ask about their policies.

We end up camping alot in National Forest and public campgrounds. Forest is generally a good deal ($10-20/night depending on where you go in the country), plus they tend to keep some portion of sites open to first-come-first-serve which suits people like us with a loose schedule.

[EDALLSAILS]

Passport America is a good starter. no requirement to purchase "Lifetime" membership. We purchased a membership from a reseller that gives us a intro into Resort parks of america and coast to coast. The 3 anual fees are about $200.00. We stay at their campgrounds usually for 10 to 12 bucks a night. Big Fee memberships have some things to be very wary about. Can you quit and walk away? Thousand trails has more plans that a supermarket has soap. We've looked at the $499 select your area plans they offer. but, do want to do all our camping within their parks? are the parks where we want to go? NO! Between passport america, Federal campgrounds, army Corp campgrounds and state campground we can usually go where ever we waant and find somewhere to stay. And one last thing about many of the membersdhip grounds. how many nights can you stay? Hope this helps you. enjoy camping.

[gracewriter]

Thanks for getting back to me. I'll take your advice and look these things up.

Just wish I knew more about BLMs and such. I guess this is going to take a while before we can camp whenever we want.

[Larry & Rita]

In answer to your question, "Does it get better", the answer is yes it does!!
Rving is like life-it is what you make it, it sounds like you have the right attitude and drive to make it great.
Clubs are all over and each has it's own little hidden trip ups.
Rita and I joined KM Resorts, which is restricted to Wash. and Oregon (8 Parks) but truly I don't think I would do it again. We camp for free but it took us 5 years to pay off and I doubt we will ever be able to recoup the cost.
As an offshoot to being able to camp in other states we joined ROD which is affiliated with almost all full time membership clubs and as long as we keep $25. in thier travel bank we can camp for free in over a thousand parks. (They have some major restrictions also)
Most of what you will find will take trial and error, but it's fun.
Sit down and make a list of what you want and where you plan on going, then get on the internet and play, be sure to write down the pros and cons of each.
Most of all enjoy your camper and have a great time.
Larry

[WheelingIt]

Regarding free camping on BLM or forest land my best advise is to go down to your local BLM or forest office and talk to them about it. The local ranger will usually be the best resource on the area and can tell you about access, site size and all kinds of other goodies. I've always found the offices to be super-helpful when I go there in person. Trying to contact them via phone or e-mail is not as successful.

And seriously, try some forest camping. www.recreation.gov has all the details you're looking for online. If you love nature, you'll really enjoy it.

[bdpreece]

Quote:

Originally Posted by gracewriter SNIP This is really confusing. Like how many other sites take 1000 mile club that aren't listed on the 1000 mile club site??? SNIP

I hate to show my ignorance (According to my wife I do it all the time) but I have been on this site since 2000 and and have never heard of the 1000 mile club.
If you are referring to the Thousand Trails site the reason you don't see Mt Hood Village on their site is because they are not a Thousand Trails park. They are however owned by the same parent company ELS Properties and most ELS parks will give TT members some type of discount but not all, and the discount is not always the same. Clear as mud isn't it.