Escapees?

[Spower]

Are any of you members of the Escapees? I am thinking about joining. Very interested in all of their RV parks as I travel as a full timer.

I am just wondering if I travel to one of the parks will I be able to get in (as a member of course)? I would think they are pretty popular. I would want to stay for a minimum a few weeks to maybe a month or two. I'm just worried about there being a spot when I get there.

Thanks!!

[Route 66 Traveler]

Not a member of Escapees, but we do have a Passport America membership that gets you 1/2 off at member parks all across the US. Costs about 40 bucks a year; saved that on overnight stays on our first trip.

[Joan617]

We joined last year and used their help to change our domicile to Florida as we prepared to go FT. We lived in SE coastal Georgia at the time.

We chose Florida over TX for domicile since it was easy for us to "slip across the border" and get our driver's licenses, truck and RV registrations (and voting registration), all in one day. We have a home-based S-corp that we had to register there, too since Joan still works PT in consulting.

RV and truck insurance costs went DOWN dramatically in FL!

After getting on the road after selling the house and me retiring, we made our way to the Bushnell Escapees park "Sumpter Oaks" and spent November there. After all, we wanted to see what "Home" looked like since that's the address on our driver's license! Nice park. A little quirky, it's a former mobile home park, so the lots and hook-ups are weird (bring extra hose). There is a Donkey rescue farm next door and the park is surrounded by pretty marsh land and ponds with beautiful wildlife. Don't be surprised if a few 4' tall Sandhill Cranes walk past your front door. A few corners of the park are a bit trashy looking, however. I don't mean just older RV's -nothing wrong there- but rusty crap in the yard. People are nice though and there are a lot of coordinated activities and social gatherings. Saturday breakfasts for $5 each are awesome!

There is much to do for recreation and good shopping in the region.

The mail situation for Bushnell Escapees members is weird. Your mailing address will be Livingston, TX, no matter what, because that is where the Escapees mail processing center is. When staying at the Sumpter Oaks park in Bushnell, you cannot get postal mail there, but they do accept packages (amazon, etc.). Any mail that MUST be addressed to Bushnell, such as voter registration, DMV, etc will be forwarded to Livingston and then you can have it forwarded in a package from there (even if it means back to Florida - Don't even get me started...).

We were supposed to be in TX by now for RV repair work (crack rehab), but the pandemic has us locked down in ALA. We still have to get there eventually and will work our way to Livingston next year. My niece, also an itinerant, joined Escapees and uses TX all the way. She was physically there this winter and says it's nice, but she in not an RV person so sees with different lenses.

Hope this helps. Good luck.
Angus


EDIT: One thing I forgot to mention- the Bushnell Location has the "Smart-Weigh" Service available. They weigh the entire rig and truck, axle by axle, left and right, and provide a worksheet and detailed analysis of your weight distribution, wheel by wheel. $55 well spent. Gave us great piece of mind and we learned a lot!