If you want a discount at RV parks clubs such as Good Sam KOA, or Passport America are your best bets these clubs are larger and have more parks under their umbrella than my favorite club the Escapees RV Club. The Escapees was borne on July 4, 1978 by Joe & Kay Peterson they had already been full timing for 8 years when Kay posed a question through a column that she wrote for Woodall's Trailer Travel magazine. She asked if a club were started to help people enjoy RVing, would anyone be interested. She received several responses and began to think that if they started a club it might grow to be several hundred members. Today there are over 34,000 members.
The Escapees club has get together events (escapades) twice a year; they are open to members and non-members. The first Escapade (the was held near Bakersfield, CA with 24 families attending. Today's events regularly draw upwards of 2,500 members. SKP was originally used as an abbreviation of Escapees. If you say S-K-P fast it sounds like Escapees. Escapee members now call themselves SKIPS.
The Escapees club has three types of parks under their flag. Here is a very brief description of each:
1. Escapee Co-op parks. These parks govern themselves (under the guidelines of the Escapees) and were built by Escapee members. In these parks the property is deeded to you.
2. Escapees Home-Base Parks. Here we have two types those with deeds spots and those with leased spots. The basic difference between these and the co-op parks is these are fully under control of the Escapees club.
3. Escapees Rainbow Parks Unlimited (ERPU) these parks offer five-year renewable lease. Here you buy a lease for a price and renew at the end of the term for I believe $1.00.
There is a considerable waiting list for any of these various types or plans so if you check them out and might be interested get your name on the list as soon as possible. I know some people that have waited as much as 5 years and know that some lists to be over 600 names.
Another club benefit is the CARE program. Escapees CARE Center is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit (tax-exempt) corporation formed in 1992 and is under the guidance of a volunteer board of directors.
CARE answers the question, "What happens to full-time RVers when they cannot take care of their own or their spouse's needs following an illness, injury, surgery, or the progression of a long-term health situation?"
Friends may offer to help, not realizing that a "little help" will become a need for extensive help with no end in sight. Is it fair to put that burden on neighbors or relatives who have their own lives to live? There has to be a better alternative than depending on neighbors or trading your RV home for a land-based residence. There is!
It is located in Livingston, Texas, and it is called CARE (Continuing Assistance for Retired Escapees). Its mission is to provide a safe haven with professional assistance at affordable prices for members whose travels are permanently ended because of age or temporarily interrupted because of health problems.
CARE is a place where you will receive professional help for the things you may no longer be able to do. It is not a nursing home. Its goal is to delay or eliminate the need for a nursing home.
There is much more to this club please Check them out at Escapees RV Club tell them that 67198 sent you.
Barry Houseknecht - We now have been on the road for five years. Seems like a long itme to some. For us it has passed way to fast. We wanted to do 5 years on ...
