Living the good life at senior RV parks: escape the ravages of winter for camaraderie under the sun

After too many years of gazing at pallid gray skies and watching countless snowflakes fall, vast numbers of RVers every year decide to fly the coop and become snowbirds. For an increasing number of seniors, escaping winter's doldrums means choosing an active adult RV resort in the Sunbelt, particularly Florida, Arizona, and the Rio Grande Valley of Texas.

Entering one of these resorts, you soon realize they're much more than ordinary campgrounds. The only similarities are the full hookups provided for those living in their RVs.

These gated communities with named, paved streets contain lots instead of standard sites. Driving around, you discover a combination of park models (permanent RVs similar to small manufactured homes attached to a site), fifth wheels, and motorhomes. You don't see folding trailers, truck campers, travel trailers, motorized RVs under 21 feet, and tents. They are simply not allowed. In some places, RVs older than 10 years are not permitted.

Almost all these resorts require at least one family member be age 55 or older. Park model owners are often older residents who return year after year. They have established friendships and regard these communities as their second homes. Long-term residents are the pioneers who moved in when their RV resort was new. Some live in these resorts year-round, while many escape the summer heat and head north.

Those living in their RVs are often baby boomers or retired full-timers who wish to partake in an active community without establishing permanent ties. They spend one winter in Arizona, another in Texas or Florida. In a few years, if they find this type of lifestyle is suitable for them, they often purchase a park model at one of the RV communities where they've stayed.

A third classification, to which my husband and I belong, consists of those ranting park models. Some resorts rent their own park models, while others have a real estate agent or rental department that connects renters to park model owners.

We are among those escaping snow and trying out this lifestyle before making any commitment. We like the roominess of a park model compared to an RV. For example, our rental home this past winter at Valle del Oro in Mesa, Arizona, was like a cottage with a dining room, kitchen with side-by-side refrigerator and dishwasher, bathroom, bedroom, and a large Arizona room (similar to a Florida room) transformed into a living room.

Rental fees for RV lots and park models vary not only from one RV resort to another but according to the length of stay and time of year. Staying for several months may substantially lower the rate you pay. The popular January-through-March period is the most expensive.

From April through October, it is easy to find a place to stay. For the other months, it is wise to reserve well in advance.

"I tell people that as soon as you know your dates, call and make reservations," said Christina Bamper, national reservations coordinator for Cal-Am Resorts, which recently acquired Valle del Oro.

Most, but not all, of these active adult RV resorts allow pets and have pet sections. If you travel with your pet in your RV or own a park model, the choice of communities is much wider than for those renting a park model. Valle del Oro was one of only four I found in Arizona ranting park models to people with pets.

The breadth of activities and facilities in these communities is so wide it is impossible to partake of everything offered. Larger resorts offer hundreds of activities a week from November to the end of March. When the snowbirds return to their summer nests, the number of planned activities drops dramatically. That's because it's the residents who volunteer to run these programs. They will approach the activity director with their idea for starting an activity or group.

At Valle del Oro, over 1,300 residents volunteer their time to create the successful program. "Without our volunteers we could not run," said Karrie Preston, manager of Valle del Oro. "We couldn't staff with such a seasonal business and do everything that we do."

Activity directors coordinate sports, dance, and crafts programs. There are exercise classes, computer classes, and card tournaments. Evening programs range from bingo and movies to dances, patties, and special events. For example, each Thursday at Valle del Oro, area entertainers perform in the 25,000-square-foot ballroom.

Most active adult RV communities offer craft rooms for silversmithing, lapidary, woodworking, pottery ceramics, and stained glass. Beadwork, quilting, sewing, basketry, and making greeting cards are other crafts.

Those who enjoy sports find softball fields, bocce and croquet courts, shuffleboard courts, horseshoes, and lighted tennis courts. Some communities, such as Cal-Am's resorts in Arizona, provide miniature golf or chip and putt, while others, such as Llano Grande lake Park in Mercedes, Texas, boast 18-hole championship golf courses.

All resorts offer swimming pools. Valle del Oro has two heated outdoor pools and two hot tubs. Cal-Am Resorts' Val Vista Village in Mesa maintains an indoor pool as does Voyager RV Resort in Tucson. Water exercise, water volleyball, or just soaking in hot tubs are popular.

Resorts also have card rooms. Name a card game and they have it. From bridge and cribbage to euchre and spite and malice, residents play card games dally. Many enjoy participating in musical groups, sharing creative writing, shooting photographs, performing in plays, and taking foreign language lessons.

You would think that age would dictate the activities people choose. But that's not reality.

"We still have a lot of older people in the active crowd," said Cindy Knowlton, activities director for Valle del Oro. "We have some 85-year-old tennis players."

Other facilities might include post offices, expansive computer centers, laundries, libraries, and billiard rooms. Some, such as Voyager and Cal-Am Resorts' Mesa Regal, have restaurants or snack bars, travel agents, a beauty salon, and a barber shop.

At Valle del Oro, I frequently purchased sandwiches at the snack bar Monday through Wednesday and taco salads on Fridays. These meals, served by resident volunteers, are so inexpensive that lines form. On Saturdays, it's the all-you-can-eat pancake breakfasts for $2.75, including sausage and scrambled eggs or biscuits and gravy.

Another popular activity is the Country Market (similar to a flea market). The one Valle del Oro holds on Thursdays is the largest at area RV resorts. Vendors often overflow the large ballroom and onto the patio near the pool.

If all this sounds good to you, the best way to find out about these resorts is to consult an RV directory. Look for the book's ads listing lots of activities and mentioning park models, then go online or make telephone calls for additional information. Here are some suggested resorts:

ARIZONA

Those considering active adult resorts will find Mesa is the mecca, with 34 to choose from. Yuma has several, and Voyager is located in Tucson. Arizona resorts attract residents from more than 25 states, with the Midwest and West well-represented. Canadians also bead for these parks. However, some resorts, like Mesa Regal in Mesa, draw Easterners. Attractions are the well-developed activity programs, sunny skies, and low humidity.

Valle del Oro in Mesa is a superbly maintained RV resort that looks new, though developed in the 1980s. Its 1,760 sites, with 1,300 dedicated to park models, place it as third in size among active adult RV resorts in Mesa. With hundreds of activities a week, valle del Oro's residents never become bored. Often. I have found, it's a matter of choosing from two activities in the same time period.

Friendliness, a characteristic of these RV communities no matter the location, is also key here--people almost always wave or say "hello" in passing.

Cal-Am--with six other parks, five in the Phoenix/Mesa area--is the big gorilla in Arizona. All of its resorts have fitness and computer centers. Six have inter-resort tournaments in such sports as softball, shuffleboard, and horseshoes, with individual prizes as well as a trophy for the champion park. By calling one toll-free reservation number, questions about any of their resorts are answered.

Each Cal-Am property has its own personality. Val Vista Village, established in 1973, was the first active adult resort in Mesa. Facilities include a snack bar, sports bar, newly renovated miniature golf, and two pools. Mesa Regal, with 2,000-plus sites, is Mesa's largest resort, offering 300-plus events and activities each week and boasting a massive ballroom and new sports complex.

Canyon Vistas, Cal-Am's newest, opened in 1999. It's located southeast of Phoenix and easily accommodates the largest RVs. Hiking and off roading are popular here. Apache Wells, the smallest with 320 sites, offers fewer amenities but lots of activities. Sunflower, located in Surprise, is one of a handful of resorts on the western side of Phoenix. It has Southwestern architecture, a natural grass chip and putt, and a poolside restaurant. Mesa's Sun Life has a brand new sports center and two new buildings for hobbies and crafts.

Tucson's 1,576-site Voyager RV Resort is the place to go for active adults in southern Arizona. Residents choose from more than 300 regularly scheduled activities, from aerobics and computer classes to making projects in the stained glass and lapidary shops. Unique facilities are its tanning salon, health clinic, inn, and day spa with therapeutic massage center. The resort rents and sells park models and manufactured homes. "Our tournament shuffleboard courts are used by leagues throughout the city," said Sue Fuller, operations manager.

TEXAS

Attracting mostly Midwesterners and Canadians, plus a few Easterners, the Rio Grande area of Texas is close to Mexico and Gulf of Mexico beaches. Another draw: Rates for park model rentals and RV sites are less expensive than in Florida and Arizona.

The 800-site Llano Grande Lake Park Resort and Country Club in Mercedes is undergoing an expansion project that will add 1,500 sites by 2007. A highlight is the free golf on its 18-hole, 6,700-yard championship golf course after 2 p.m., an option available to its residents and those of its sister resort, Victoria Palms in Donna, Texas.

Two other Texas communities I hear mentioned by my fellow Valle del Oro residents are Tropic Star MH and RV Resort in Pharr and Fun-N-Sun RV Resort in San Benito. Both are large parks with extensive activity programs and elaborate facilities.

FLORIDA

Florida draws primarily from the Northeast but also attracts Canadians and Midwesterners. You'll find senior communities scattered throughout Florida with concentrations around Bradenton/Sarasota, Fort Myers, and the center of the state. RV site and park model rates are highest here, but the drive for Easterners requires less time than traveling to Texas or Arizona.

Fort Myers' Indian Creek RV Resort and Manufactured Home Community is part of Sun Communities, Inc, which has several such resorts in Florida and Texas for the 55+ age market. Indian Creek boasts more than 1,200 full hook-up sites, 21 lakes, three heated pools, a whirlpool, bike trails to beaches, and a year-round activity director. Activities range from clogging lessons to casino bus trips.

If these active adult communities sound good to you, but you're not yet a senior, consider Sun-N-Fun in Sarasota, open to all ages. In winter, this resort attracts snowbirds, the majority age 40 and up. From May through August, a younger crowd camps with their pop-ups and travel trailers. This resort rents a variety of RV sites and park models. The heated Olympic-size pool with its restaurant and tiki bar is the community's heart.

RV Communities

Start planning for next winter with information from these active adult RV resorts:

* Cal-Am Resorts, (888) 940-8989; www.cal-am.com. Seven resorts in Arizona--Valle del Oro, Mesa Regal, Apache Wells, Val Vista Village, Sun Life, Sunflower, and Canyon Vistas.

* Voyager RV Resort, Tucson, Arizona; (800) 424-9191: www.VoyagerRV.com.

* Llano Grande Lake Park Resort & Country Club, Mercedes, Texas; (800) 6562638; www.llanogranderesort.com.

* Victoria Palms Resort, Donna, Texas; (800) 551 5303; www.victoriapalms.com.

* Tropic Star MH & RV Resort, Pharr, Texas; (956) 787 5957; wwwrvresorts.com

* Fun-N-Sun RV resort, San Benito, Texas; (800) 399-5127; www.fun-n-sunrvresort.com

* Indian Creek RV Resort & Manufactured Home Community, Fort Myers Beach, Florida; (239) 466-6060; (800) 828-6992; www.sunrvresorts.com. (The website is also for other Sun Communities RV resorts in Texas and Florida.)

* Sun-N-Fun, Sarasota Florida; (800) 8432421; www.sunnfunfl.com.

For Members Only

AN EMERGING TREND FOR RVERS WHO spend several months a year camping is membership in a network of private campgrounds. The industry leader, Coast to Coast Resorts, has facilitated such a network for 30-some years.

RVers purchase a membership with a particular CampResort, one of more than 350 affiliated with Coast to Coast but not owned or operated by the organization. Many CampResorts provide members the opportunity to stay in condominiums, park models, cabins, or even tepees at some destinations.

A Classic membership allows visits to CampResorts (affiliated parks) other than one's home resort twice a year for stays up to seven nights each visit, with 30 days required between stays. The upgraded Deluxe membership lets campers stay at CampResorts twice a year for stays up to 14 days each visit, with seven nights required between slays. Either membership allows access to the system of nearly 350 privately owned Good Neighbor Parks across the United States, Mexico, and Canada, which are open to the public.

Trip Points are required for a nightly slay at an affiliated CampResort or Good Neighbor Park, Members can stay at affiliated CampResorts for 800 Trip Points, which equates to $8 or less each night, Rates for members at Good Neighbor Parks are 1,300 Trip Points or roughly $13 or less per night Members purchase Trip Points by contacting Tripsetter, Coast to Coast's online reservation system, or by calling their toll-free number,

Other Coast to Coast membership benefits include competitive RV financing: discount RV rentals; travel and dining discounts; insurance for home, automobiles, and RVs, and a subscription to the Coast to Coast magazine

Contact: Coast to Coast Resorts, (890) 368 5721 or browse www.coastresorts.com

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