As the first snows of winter fall gently on the landscape, tens of thousands of Canadian RV’ers will turn their attention to RV resort destinations in the Sunbelt states.
Over the years, our Road Test Teams have explored these havens of tropical sunshine, escaping the blustery weather for several weeks, or months at a time.
For this special report, we have concentrated on the nine states that Canadians tend to focus on when planning their winter sojourn in “paradise”. It should be noted that travel arrangements should be booked well in advance for these special trips, and Canadians should make sure that their out-of-country medical coverage is in place… for details on the practical side of southern touring, please visit my RV Tips archive on the website, www.rvlifemag.com.
It should also be noted that the routes to the southern destinations are filled with attractions – if you plan to take your time on your way to the sunshine you will undoubtedly discover that “getting there is half the fun!”
Alabama
As you travel south on I-65 to the Gulf, detour to the East on I-565 at Huntsville, Alabama to visit the US Space & Rocket Center with a Campground at One Tranquility Base at exit 15. This great museum has the largest collection of rockets and space hardware including the Saturn V moon rocket. A motion simulator ride shows astronauts building the Space Station. Take a bus tour of the Marshall Space Flight Center where you can see astronauts training, and Spacelab stations. Be careful that you don’t turn at exit 14 into the Redstone Arsenal by mistake as it is a fortified military installation (it is the first turn before Tranquility Base road exit 15). The nation’s space program was developed here starting in 1950 by Dr Werner Von Braun and his crew of German scientists.
If your fancy turns to car racing, just off I-20 between Birmingham and Atlanta, the Talladega 500 is run in April and in October.
Mobile is Alabama’s only seaport. Its river channel has been dredged to allow ocean going cruise ships of 40-foot draft to enter the city. During the two weeks before Lent, mystic societies parade through the streets for the carnival. If you are interested in seeing the dogs run, visit the Mobile Greyhound Park 10 miles West of I-10 at the Dawes Theodore exit 13. The Gulf Coast Exploreum Museum of Science at 65 Government Street is worth a couple of hours to see its three venues, filled with hands-on exhibits. Visit the USS Alabama Memorial Park off US90 at 2703 Battleship Parkway to see the USS Alabama and the USS Drum submarine that saw action in the Pacific. Also on site is a B52 bomber, World War II fighters, a Blackbird spy plane and an Iraqi tank.
Arizona
Arizona boasts more than 6000 camping sites with 116 campgrounds in the Phoenix area alone, and many more in the Tucson and Yuma areas. It is the home of the Grand Canyon, a one-day drive from Las Vegas or Phoenix. We like to park our motorhome at the Grand Canyon Camper Village, 5.7 miles south of the Rim of the Canyon, and then drive our Jeep Liberty to see the sights. Across the road from the campground is an IMAX theater where you can experience all the thrills of rafting through the canyon without getting wet. Our favorite place for an excellent dinner after visiting the Grand Canyon Skywalk is the El Tovar Lodge on the rim. The skywalk has a glass floor and extends 70 feet over the edge of the canyon allowing guests to see 4000 feet down to the bottom. No cameras or bags are allowed as these might be dropped accidently. Of course, you can always buy photos from a professional photographer on site. In Havasu City, a town created for the workers of the McCulloch Chain Saw Company, you can drive over the famous London Bridge that was moved stone by stone from London England at a cost of $7 million.
California
More than 55 million people call the Golden State “The Promised Land” with Southern California offering some of the finest weather in North America during the winter months. Los Angeles is home to many tourist attractions, including Disneyland, Knott’s Berry Farm, Universal Studios, and the Queen Mary. Disneyland and the California Adventure Park are at South Harbor Boulevard just off I-5 interstate exit 110, between Katella and Ball Road. Disneyland has more than 60 major rides and eight themed areas. This is a very popular park complex and it is advisable to arrive early for a full day of entertainment. The California Adventure is undergoing new changes for 2009. The park has three themed areas, Paradise Pier, Hollywood Pictures Back lot, and the Golden State.
Knott's Berry Farm started because Cordelia Knott was a really good cook. When she started selling her fried chicken to supplement the Knott’s family income in 1934, it was an instant success. The next thing they knew, customers were standing in line outside their door. Walter Knott wanted to entertain them, so he added a few Old West themed attractions. Over the next 60 years the park grew, and in 1997 the family sold out to Cedar Fair, a theme park management company. The Knotts would hardly recognize their place today, with over 165 rides and some of the wildest thrill rides on the West Coast. Knott’s Berry Farm on Beach Blvd. near the junction of I-91 and I-5, creates the atmosphere of the Old West and is divided into six themed areas spread over 150 acres - a size that's easily walkable. You'll find 38 major rides at the park. Seven are extreme thrill rides, most of them in the Boardwalk area. They include GhostRider, with the longest banked wooden coaster drop in the Western United States. Camp Snoopy is the place to go with smaller children, but you'll find things they like in other areas, too.
The Southern California CityPass includes entry fees for Disneyland and California Adventure, San Diego Zoo, SeaWorld San Diego, and Universal Tours. Universal Studios tours are at the 101 Freeway and exit 12 at Universal Studios Blvd. This park takes you behind the scenes at the movies. Six Flags Theme park is on the north side of Los Angeles at Santa Clara, the junction of I-5 and Magic Mountain Drive. Here you can ride 15 roller coasters in a 260 acre park with more than 100 rides, games and attractions.
In Long Beach at the south side of Los Angeles you will find the Queen Mary, one of the largest passenger liners ever built. A self-guided tour allows you into areas of the liner that might have been inaccessible to the public. Explore the many shops and restaurants at this location. By all measures RMS Queen Mary was truly "titanic." Bigger, faster and more powerful than her predecessor the Titanic, the Queen Mary lived a long life that included 1,001 successful Atlantic crossings. Built at the John Brown shipyard on the Clyde, Scotland, in 1937, the Queen Mary held the record for the fastest-ever North Atlantic crossing, and for three years she carried the rich and famous across the Atlantic in great luxury. Now Queen Mary rests in the Long Beach harbor, converted into a hotel and tourist attraction. Guides' voices echo in the now-empty engine room, where 27 boilers once generated 160,000 horsepower. On the dining room wall, a map tracked the position of the Queen Mary and her sister ship the Queen Elizabeth as passengers anticipated their passing in mid-ocean. While not so big and sleek as today's mega-cruise liners, the Queen Mary is an elegant reminder of a bygone era. In 1939, the world began to darken as World War II approached. On September 2, 1939, the Queen Mary crew blacked out her portholes. The following day, England and France declared war on Germany. Refitted as a troop ship, her capacity increased from 2,410 to 5,500, Queen Mary carried troops to the war and Winston Churchill to war conferences for the next six years. She survived a collision at sea, carried the most people ever on a floating vessel (16,683), and participated in the D-Day invasion.
The Scorpion, a Foxtrot-class Russian submarine from the Cold War Era, is moored just below the Queen Mary's bow. A tour of the cramped quarters and military conditions (78 crew shared 2 showers and 3 toilets) provides an interesting contrast to the Queen Mary's size and luxury.
North of Los Angles is a Danish town called Solvang. Take a ride on a streetcar drawn by Belgian horses through the town and see windmills and sites such as the Hans Christian Anderson Park. The region surrounding Solvang is home to over 50 wineries. The gentle rolling hills, windmills, quiet streets, horse drawn carriages, family bicycles, golf courses, horse ranches, wineries, Danish bakeries, and authentic Danish costumes worn by some shop keepers. Danish smorgasbord restaurants, museums of racing and Solvang history, in the Danish atmosphere and architecture are waiting for you. Solvang was founded in 1911 by a group of Danish educators to build a school serving the Danes on the West Coast. At the time of their arrival only the Old Mission Santa Inez was in the area. The architecture of the buildings is very much of the old world with steep gabled roofs, windmills, and the typical old world building style even to a real thatched roof on the corner of Copenhagen and First Street. The shops are filled with wares from near and far and the bakeries are loaded with Danish pastries and cookies. The restaurants feature food from Denmark and other ethnic styles and you really feel transferred to a different time and place. Here also you will find the PCPA Outdoor Theater featuring shows from Shakespeare to Modern.
If you continue another 18 miles west on 246 you will arrive at Lompoc which has 60 murals ranging from steelhead fishing to dancing cows. Flower fields provide many of the nation’s cut flowers and seeds. Vanderberg Air Force Base is the west coast space launch center. NASA and the Air Force are continuing the space launches with private industry being involved also.
The weather in San Diego is close to ideal with sun, sand, and palm trees. San Diego is USA’s sixth largest city. To get to the San Diego Zoo exit I-5 at Pershing Drive and follow the signs to the Zoo. This is one of the largest zoos in the nation with more than 4000 animals in their natural environment. Visitors find not only familiar animals at the San Diego Zoo but also little-known and seldom-seen creatures such as tree kangaroos and komodo dragons. The observant visitor will notice that the zoo is also a botanical garden with more than 6,500 plant species, and some of its plants are more exotic than the animals. Plant-lovers can pick up special garden guides near the entrance. The Ituri Forest exhibit is a geographically-oriented area where hippos swim underwater alongside monkeys and forest buffaloes (like water buffaloes but without the water). Monkey Trails, which replaced the old cages, offers great opportunities to see the monkeys from a treetop-level view. The pandas are perennially popular at the San Diego Zoo. However, their exhibit is sometimes closed for the good of these shy animals. Some of the other popular exhibits include Tiger River, Sun Bear Forest, Gorilla Tropics, the Scripps Aviary, and Polar Bear Plunge. A new area called Elephant Odyssey was under construction in late 2008.
Florida
Florida is the destination of choice for many RVers for its many attractions, beaches, golf, fishing, and RV facilities. No place is more than 80 miles from the ocean. At the Florida Keys you can go to sea in your car as you drive the 113 miles on the Overseas Highway from island to island on the way to Key West. Be sure that you have a reservation for a campsite before you head out as sites are limited especially around the Christmas season. Key West has the best view at Mallory Square on Duval Street as the sun sinks into the water each evening. For an hour before each sunset, many street entertainers vie for your attention and donations. Key West was once home to a lucrative wrecking business salvaging ship wrecks. Today it is a popular retreat for artists and writers and tourists. The Kissimmee area around Orlando is home to Disney World where dreams come true, Epcot Center showcases many countries and new technologies to feature the land of tomorrow, MGM Studios is where you can see how television shows and movies are produced, and Fort Wilderness RV Resort is a campground inside the Disneyworld complex. Book early for a site in Fort Wilderness as it is a popular spot to camp. Now it allows pets in certain loops of the campground. If you can’t get in, there are plenty of other excellent campgrounds in the area. In the Tampa area visit Busch Gardens, The Dark Continent. This 300 acre park offers rides, live entertainment, and animal exhibits in the Serengeti Plain. Also included is a tour of the Anheuser-Busch Brewery.
If the smell of greasepaint is in you veins, your trip should include a stopover in Jupiter to see live theatre, or visit the Ringling Brothers Circus museum and the home of John and Mable Ringling with its art museum in Sarasota. If it’s spring in Florida, it must be baseball time as many major league teams get ready for the regular season. If sand beaches are your passion be sure to go for a swim, rent a sailboat, or play beach volleyball at St. Petersburg or on the white sand beaches at Fort Meyers on the Gulf Coast. If going back to nature excites you, a trip by air boat through the Everglades will allow you to enter the land of alligators and cypress trees.
On the ocean side of Florida are towns like Daytona Beach with a 23 mile long beach that is 550 feet wide. This is the site of many car races and of course the influx of college students at spring break. Take a tour of Cape Kennedy for an experience in space flight. You might even see a rocket take off as you camp at Outdoor Resorts in Titusville. This is a luxury motorcoach condominium park where you can purchase a site and rent it out to others when you are traveling to other areas. Since land appreciates in value, the site is often worth more in future years if you need to leave the RV Lifestyle. Carefree RV Resorts offer daily, monthly, and yearly sites for RVers in Florida. Sun Communities operates eight upscale campground facilities in Florida at Sebring, Bradenton, Fort Meyers, Bonita Springs, Naples, and Homestead. St Augustine in the north was reported as the legendary Fountain of Youth. You can visit the fountain one block east of US Highway 1 and San Marco Ave. The Old City is being restored into a likeness of Spanish colonial days.
Louisiana
As you travel down I-61 from Natchez to New Orleans, make a stop at Baton Rouge, the second largest city in Louisiana with a population of 220,000 people. It is one of the largest ports on the Mississippi. Many magnolia, cypress trees, antebellum homes and sugar plantations exist in this area. Be sure to visit the Magnolia Mound Plantation on Nicholson Drive. This French-Creole home was built in the late 1700's and is surrounded by acres of oak trees. At the open-hearth cooking presentations, food that grows on the plantation is served. No trip to Louisiana would be complete without a visit to New Orleans to savor the food, music, and history. It was founded in 1718 by the French explorer Jean-Baptiste Le Moyne. Many French settlers came to this area 250 years ago when the British deported colonists from the Acadia area of Nova Scotia. There are seven campgrounds in the Greater New Orleans area. Both KOA campgrounds in the city are open for business as usual after hurricane Ike. The new French Quarter Class A luxury campground is also open for campers to start their tour of the city. Be sure to see Blaine Kern’s Mardi Gras World to discover how the floats are built for the Mardi Gras parades.
Mississippi
If your path down south takes you through Memphis, the home of the King, travel on down I-55 and detour to the west on I-20 to see Vicksburg and then down I-61 to Natchez. In Vicksburg, stop at the Old Courthouse Museum, and drive through the Vicksburg National Military Park. You can tour the USS Cairo and a new museum dedicated to the African Americans who fought in the Civil War. As you continue down I-61, you will pass Port Gibson, said by Ulysses S Grant as the town “too beautiful to burn”. Don’t miss visiting some of the antebellum homes of Natchez and sample the good food in the many homes converted to restaurants. Take a carriage ride through the downtown area and visit Natchez-Under-the-Hill for antiques, colorful shops, quaint restaurants, and casinos. Many of the homes in this area predate the Civil War. Cross the moat to the Castle Restaurant at Dunleith Historic Hotel for a world class meal. If you arrive in late September take part in the Natchez Fall Pilgrimage as costumed hosts welcome visitors to the antebellum mansions. Along the coastal region you will find many casinos built on land just off the coast with high stakes gambling, top-name entertainment, and great stage shows. Since Katrina caused so much offshore damage, the government has now voted to allow casinos on the mainland. You will find white sand beaches, golf courses, good food, and lots of things to see and do.
Nevada
In Nevada everything is wide open, especially the RV possibilities. There are miles of uncrowded highways, spectacular scenery, and endless outdoor adventure. Laughlin, a once barren desert terrain has become a modern boomtown ignited by the imagination of one man from a small farm near Owatonna, Minnesota. Don Laughlin started the Riverside Resort after running a small casino in northern Las Vegas. Today, the Riverside boasts 1,405 beautiful rooms and suites, most with breathtaking river views. And the Riverside Resort RV Park has 740 spaces for RVs to park while the owners gamble, or watch shows in the 1000-seat Celebrity Theater with many top-name entertainers. Another popular campsite in Laughlin is the AVI-KOA camp on the banks of the Colorado River 11-miles south of the main strip. KOA guests are entitled to all of the Avi Resort and Casino's amenities, including the giant Vegas-style casino, private white sand beach, 9,000-square-foot lagoon pool (heated year-round), boat launch and fitness center. Dine at the Native Harvest Buffet or the 24-hour Feathers Cafe. Enjoy fine dining by reservation at the Moonshadow Grille. There are three fast-food restaurants and the Brenden Theatres eight-screen movie complex at the resort. Laundry, showers, phone, cable and Wi-Fi are available.
Las Vegas is one of the premier tourist destinations in America. Its many hotels and casinos draw visitors from around the world for the gambling, attractions, shows and food. Las Vegas has outgrown its reputation as an adult only destination as many family oriented attractions have been added each year with the opening of many theme hotels like the Excalibur, Treasure Island, The Freemont Experience, and the Luxor. Las Vegas has some world-class golf courses, and a visit to the Red Rock Canyon is a must. Underground aquifers and artesian springs provide the water for all the irrigation and green grass in a city that has minimal rainfall each year. On our visit the rain fell for the first time in four years. Just a few miles away you should definitely visit Henderson, the entrance to Lake Mead and the 726-feet high Hoover Dam, the highest concrete dam ever constructed. As you visit the dam prepare for a wait as Homeland Security checks your vehicle before you are allowed to drive across. An RV parking area is available as you take the hard-hat tour of the inner workings. Lake Mead is a Mecca for boaters and houseboat rentals are available. With 1.5 million acres, it is twice the size of Rhode Island. It caters to boaters, swimmers, sunbathers, and fishermen while its desert rewards hikers, wildlife photographers, and roadside sightseers. Water from the lake is exported to Phoenix, 235 miles away. Las Vegas has 28 RV parks to give you more choice in places to park your RV. One of our favorites is the KOA at Circus Circus, right on the strip.
RVers who want to stay in the south for extended periods of time need to reserve their site early to avoid disappointment. Many sites are booked from one year to the next.
New Mexico
Santa Fe and Taos in the mountainous areas north of Albuquerque are home to groups of artists who produce traditional art in turquoise jewelry, pottery, and Navajo rugs. In the winter you can ski at Sandia Peak and the Sangre de Cristo Mountain Range at many ski resorts. There are many BLM (Bureau of Land Management) areas set aside for camping in the desert. The BLM oversees outdoor recreation and many other activities on 13.4 million acres of public land. New Mexico’s landscape is as diverse as the cultures it supports, encompassing high deserts, rugged lava flows, vivid spacious skies and vistas, wild and scenic rivers and stunning cave formations. BLM charges a small yearly fee for camping on their lands. At the Albuquerque balloon Festival (Oct. 4-12) you may take a trip aloft and see the many flat-roofed homes and cliff dwellings of the area. Adobe materials help the dwellings stay cool in the summer and warm in the winter seasons. Nineteen working pueblos remain in Taos and other north-central areas of New Mexico. Some of the pueblos welcome guests to experience their heritage at annual festivals. If you are interested in space travel, a visit to the Roswell area will satisfy your craving for little men from distant planets. The Los Alamos area was the site of early development of the Manhattan Project that created the atomic bomb. The first atomic bomb was tested at a site called Trinity in the White Sands Missile Range. The Bradbury Science Museum contains over 500 artifacts from the project. A visit to Carlsbad Caverns, discovered in 1986 will cool you off as you descend 830 feet below the surface. The underground chambers cover fourteen acres and have a temperature of 56 degrees Fahrenheit, so bring your jacket.
Texas
From Amarillo, go south to Canyon then East to the Palo Duro Canyon to see the outdoor amphitheater play about “Texas”. This is an excellent show on a large outdoor stage at the bottom of the canyon with professional entertainers and well worth the drive. San Antonio is the home of the historic “Alamo” fortress just north of the parking lot for the Rivercenter Mall. When we were there to photograph the new Dodge Durango SUV, and we found that the set that was recreated for the movie “The Alamo”, north of Austin, seemed to be more authentic. In San Antonio, be sure to take a cruise on the RiverWalk in a brightly colored water taxi and you will be able to savor the delicacies at one of the many sidewalk cafes. This is an experience that you won’t forget. To the north of the city you can take part in the Six Flags theme park “Fiesta Texas”. If water parks are more to your liking, then be sure to visit Seaworld just west of the city.
McAllen is the gateway to Mexico and South Padre Island. There are over 300 hundred RV parks in the area between Mission and McAllen. Padre Island can be windy. Harlingen is home to the Iwo Jima War Memorial and the Marine Military Academy. The Commemorative Air Force moved from Harlingen to Midland to be able to accommodate the large collection of aircraft. Today, the Commemorative Air Force is comprised of more than 11,000 members, several hundred of whom serve as pilots and flight or maintenance crew members committed to preserving World War II American aviation heritage.
Dallas-Fort Worth is a mixture of Southern hospitality and modern cultural diversity. You can even stop at the “Southfork Ranch” and tour the Ewing homestead made famous by the TV show Dallas. Visit theme parks like Six Flags over Texas, the Dallas World Aquarium, the Dallas Arboretum and Botanical Gardens. Interestingly enough, 8.2% of the snowbirds who winter in Texas are from Canada.
Snowbird destinations that are well worth exploring:
Carefree RV Resorts – multiple locations
Carefree RV Resorts has 24 first class properties in Florida, four in Texas and one in California - the beautiful Indian Wells RV Resort. All Carefree RV Resorts are open all year round! Daily, weekly, monthly, seasonal and annual rates are available. Check out their website at www.carefreervresorts.com for special discount packages.
Equity Lifestyles / Encore Resorts – multiple locations
Encore Resorts offer exclusive rates for their “RVONTHEGO” members - check out their website on www.rvonthego.com and you will see some of their current offers when last we checked they were offering a December 20% discount at all Florida locations, based on a standard site, and seven-day maximum stay. They also posted a January 1 - April 30, 2009, 15% discount available at Sherwood Forest, Winter Garden, Sunshine Travel, Rambler's Rest, Pioneer Village, Pine Island, Bulow Plantation and Sunshine Key on a standard site, also seven day maximum stay.
Special rates are not available on Holidays or Special Events.
Call 877 362 6736 to become a RVONTHEGO club membership number for exclusive discount rates the cost is $19.00 US DOLLARS for one year and although you don't have to become a member to stay, the members enjoy substantial discounts at the parks, restaurants and stores throughout the USA.
Golden Village Palms, CA
Sunland RV Resorts offers a five star retirement community called Golden Village Palms, Hemet, CA near Palm Springs as the centerpiece of their California snowbird destinations. Check out their website for the latest special offerings www.goldenvillagepalms.com, catering to Western Canadian snowbird the consortium appeals to those who are wanting locations in the San Diego County, Sunland Parks, where there are five to choose from and they all link to the website www.sunlandrvresorts.com.
Laughlin, NV
Don Laughlin's Riverside RV Resort, in Laughlin, NV, is a beautiful park – for more information check the website at www.riversideresort.com.
Leisure Concepts Management – multiple locations
LCM (Leisure Concepts Management) Properties have Resorts throughout the US including Havasu, NV, and Desert Gardens RV Park, just south of Florence AZ - a magnificent natural setting and a meditation garden resort. For central and East coast Canadians, try their park in Ocala, Florida, or the Palm Lake RV Resort on the Gulf Shores of Alabama. They also have a park in Texas - The Galveston Bay RV Resort, located right on the water.
Mesa Spirit, AZ
New for this winter Mesa Spirit RV Resort, Mesa AZ, is offering short term rentals for park models of one week, rolling stock can came in for a day, a week or several months. Stay for seven days get the eighth free - for more information call them toll free Canada Wide 877 924 6709 or check them out on line at www.mesaspirit.com.
Palm Creek RV Resort, AZ
Located in Casa Grande, Arizona, less than an hour from Phoenix to the North and Tucson to the south, Palm Creek offers the charms of country living without losing the amenities of the city of Phoenix. The RV Park and Golf Resort has six different rate schedules the upscale resort can be found on the website at www.palmcreekgolf.com. Toll 800 421 7004. RV's can stay daily, weekly, monthly, annual or rent a park model by the month.
Roberts Resorts – AZ
With three locations in El Mirage (Sun City) and Apache Junction (Gold Canyon), Roberts Resorts offers the RV golf enthusiast an ideal destination – seasonal or shorter duration vacation plans are available – call toll-free 866-787-2754 or check the website at www.robertsresorts.com.
Signature Resorts – multiple locations.
For Class A upscale motorcoach owners Signature Resorts offer a number of Snowbird properties available for sale and rental. Opening in December is a brand new Signature Motorcoach Resort in Naples, Florida. Options for the West Coast Snowbird include Signature Resorts properties in Indio, Palm Springs, CA and Las Vegas. View all of Signature Resorts on line at www.signaturervresorts.com or call the individual resorts directly for available specials on rental stays. Each Signature property has its own individual resort website but all of them link to the main site.
Sun Communities – TX and FL
With eight resorts in Florida and three in Texas, Sun RV Resorts offers free one-night stays and discounts galore - check them out on line at www.sunrvresorts.com or call them toll free at 1-800-815-8754.
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