Community Forums

Johnontheroad · 04-21-2021, 05:47 AM

We have been full timing for 13 years. Most years we stay in the PNW, and our base is in the DFW area. So we have driven from Texas to Washington and back many times and know many routes.

I’m currently planning my trip west and have found more difficulty than ever finding parks. I’m finally done and have reservations all the way through September, but it took me at least 3X as long as in prior years. I’ve had to re-adjust my planned route several times based on availability. Even usually reliable RV parks had no room for big rigs towing.

So if you’re planning a summer trip, especially over national holidays, it would be a good idea to start booking now.

MRichaud · 04-21-2021, 06:02 AM

We have a trip planned from E. Tenn. to Yellowstone for late summer. Made reservations back in January/February and glad we did! All but one are private RV parks, and only had one say they had no available sites. Definitely busy out there!

brobox · 04-21-2021, 06:03 AM

I am dreading our trips this summer. Due to Covid vaccines and delayed appointments, we still do not have dates set for our travels. One trip will be to Vegas for a month. I have a feeling going will be doing a lot of Walmarting to get there. Still not sure if we will get LV Motor Coach resort for that time or not. I think our travels this year will be based around cancellations.

Nowabeachbum · 04-21-2021, 08:17 AM

Yeah, spur of the moment traveling is dead. We scheduled an upcoming 2 month summer trip last year and had to schedule every day! Sure hope nothing happens cause there won’t be any regrouping on the fly! I’ve noticed Florida is adding several new rv resorts. I hope other states are doing the same otherwise this is going to suck the fun out of traveling.

DoggieDaddy · 04-21-2021, 08:45 AM

It's not just RV parks that are hard to get into. Wanted to do the Grand Canyon this spring on what may be our last trip. Couldn't find a RV site near it. Found you need to make reservations a year in advance. We are in Moab now and yesterday we couldn't get into Arches National Park it was "full". All those little travel trailers that were jamming the dealers lots two years ago are now on the road. So the "bucket list" goes unfulfilled. The high side is that it's a sellers market for motorhomes.

brobox · 04-21-2021, 08:58 AM

Making reservation a year in advance will probably end our MH travels. At least the Cornerstone makes a nice hurricane evacuation tool.

Balladeer · 04-21-2021, 10:32 AM

I guess we will have to wait another year for normal.
Maybe this year the newbies to the RV life will have run out their new found interest and decide that it isn't for them.
Just 50% reduction in this will be enough.

As they say, "Hope springs eternal".

Arch Hoagland · 04-21-2021, 10:38 AM

Balladeer said:

" I guess we will have to wait another year for normal."

I'm beginning to think this is going to normal from now on...

LWBAZ · 04-21-2021, 10:58 AM

Any market that gets red hot eventually cools off. Amy & I have owned five motorhomes over 22+ years and have seen periods of time when dealers were begging for customers and manufacturers were running at WAY less than full capacity.

Talk to Bob Tiffin if you have the opportunity. At full capacity, their Class A plant in Red Bay, Alabama can turn out 13 or 14 motorhomes per DAY. And there have been periods of times when they were down to two or three per day. BIG swings.

I'll admit we've never seen demand as high as it is now, but we all know why that has occurred. Among all the people who rushed out to buy RV's so they could travel without getting on an airplane and staying in hotels, some will find they really love it. But others - probably many others - will find RV ownership involves way more brain damage than they're willing to tolerate.

Back when I bought my first few new cars, it was common for the delivery process to include a statement like, "Drive the vehicle for a couple of week, make a list of the issues you encounter, then bring it back so our service department can correct the problems." Those days are long gone. Now when we drive off the lot in a new car the last thing any of us expect is a malfunction of any sort.

RV haven't come close to achieving that level of quality and show no signs of getting there anytime soon. Some of the new buyers will be able to live with that; others will not.

I have no idea when RV sales will cool off and a flood of used units will hit the market, but I'm very confident that day is coming. Probably sooner rather than later.

I agree that RV park reservations are a must these days, and I share Gary's concern regarding the potential complications if anything changes mid-trip. But I don't think the current demand is going to last forever.

Just my two cents - differing opinions welcome!

Johnontheroad · 04-21-2021, 11:58 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DoggieDaddy

........ All those little travel trailers that were jamming the dealers lots two years ago are now on the road. So the "bucket list" goes unfulfilled. The high side is that it's a sellers market for motorhomes.

Last year was going to be our last year RV’ing, but we know what happened.... so this year will be our last (but we’ve said that each year for the last 6 years). We have family in Vancouver, BC and we have reservations near the border. Just hope it will be open, they’re really having COVID problems in Canada now.

We’ve enjoyed the RV lifestyle, and the many friends we’ve made, including many of you we haven’t met on the forum. But I’m starting to close in on 80 and no longer enjoy crawling under the coach to fix something. Life goes on....

Archer2 · 04-21-2021, 12:59 PM

On the other hand I just finished making 10 separate reservations to cover a 2-week, 2000-mile trip starting May 2 and had no problems at all in making them. It took a total of less than a couple of hours on the phone. I don’t have any explanation for why I didn’t have any problem as they were all at pretty popular normally busy RV parks mostly along I-10 from Arizona to Alabama. Just lucky I guess.

hdgoldie · 04-21-2021, 08:27 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by brobox

I am dreading our trips this summer. Due to Covid vaccines and delayed appointments, we still do not have dates set for our travels. One trip will be to Vegas for a month. I have a feeling going will be doing a lot of Walmarting to get there. Still not sure if we will get LV Motor Coach resort for that time or not. I think our travels this year will be based around cancellations.

I stalled on deciding which way to go on one leg of our planned trip this summer. Decided to head for Tiger Run only to be told it was booked solid. Was able to get reservations to cover the time period at our next stop - which meant doubling those days - and then called Tiger Run weekly to check. Figured the worst case scenario would be one long driving day. Got the dates I wanted the third week. Cancelled half the days at the next stop. Haven’t made reservations for the one night stops yet but y’all have me worried so I’ll start on those tomorrow. Any glitches in travel will get interesting.

Mwoodofd · 04-21-2021, 10:02 PM

One reason we bought a lot for a winter destination - too hard to find a nice place to stay without a year in advance, and that is if they will take reservations that far in advance. May find a summer location so we have a place to go where it is cooler - we are looking.

brobox · 04-22-2021, 04:15 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by hdgoldie

I stalled on deciding which way to go on one leg of our planned trip this summer. Decided to head for Tiger Run only to be told it was booked solid. Was able to get reservations to cover the time period at our next stop - which meant doubling those days - and then called Tiger Run weekly to check. Figured the worst case scenario would be one long driving day. Got the dates I wanted the third week. Cancelled half the days at the next stop. Haven’t made reservations for the one night stops yet but y’all have me worried so I’ll start on those tomorrow. Any glitches in travel will get interesting.

Linda, Our last unscheduled trip into Denver to get the roof AC replaced, all parks were book since the year before. CO. is now the Sunbirds annual destination. We couldn't find a place to stay to spend a week to see old friends.

Let me know how you do with the one night stops. I was thinking last night with the travel plans for some being so tight, I hope a DEF head failure does not enter into the trip. In the "old days" a one day travel delay was not a big deal. From some of the other posts, it sounds like a lot of Walmarting or a double long day of driving to make up to get back on schedule or the trip is ruined.
Oh well, there is always FL. Lots of vacancies and discounts here in the summer.