Settling into SKP parks
UPDATE AT BOTTOM 12/4/2024
SKP, Escapees, Xscapers (working age), all names for the club of same minded folks and their lifestyle.
We joined in early 2020 after travelling around and looking at travel clubs for a number of years. If you are not familiar with the Escapees, definitely give them a look at https://escapees.com/
The premise: Like minded folks travelling and wanting to have a community on the road. Investing in co-op parks for members only, to use as home bases and supporting each other later in life as the travel bug wanes but the lifestyle is still desirable.
The origin: In 1978 Joe and Kay Peterson decided they would like to keep in touch with the people they met on the road. The only method of communication at the time was, of course, landline and snail mail, both of which were difficult to manage as full-time RV’ers. They developed a newsletter to include members information and travel articles to keep everyone informed of goings on. The original membership was 164 strong.
Today: Membership is over 60,000 strong with 8 Escapees owned parks, 11 co-op parks that are managed by the residents, and hundreds of discount parks nationwide.
An Escapees membership will cost $49.95 per year ($59.95 in Canada and Mexico). They do have membership discounts at the RV shows where you can join or renew for less (37.95 at the big Quartzite tent this year). If you add everything up, you can stay at our park for two nights even with the membership fee for less than the “resort” a mile up the road.
The Escapees offer many different benefits ranging from discounts on tires and fuel (just to start) all the way up to facilitating change of residency to take advantage of the tax and insurance laws/fees, depending on your needs. You can take a boot camp training to help you learn about your RV, get it weighed properly, learn tips and tricks about maintaining it and how to outfit it.
There are also off shoot groups from the main Escapees, called Birds of a Feather, who have special interests that are completely varied. You can join the quilters, metal detectors, hikers, boomers (baby), or almost any special interest group you can imagine.
Our story: We have stayed at a few of the parks since becoming members and have found them all to have a few things in common.
- Cheap rates, $36 dollars/night (full hookups) to stay in the Western Sierras 40 minutes from Yosemite?
- Camaraderie that is pride in ownership.
- Sense of belonging, you are not just a nameless visitor, you are a member and welcomed by all.
- Activities that are endless, from Yoga to Cards.
- Community that gives of it’s knowledge and assistance to anyone who needs it.
- Welcoming clubhouses and special amenities like libraries, game rooms, always hot coffee and charity shops.
- Escapee membership is required for admittance.
We really appreciate the sense of community at each of these parks and the fact that they are dispersed enough to chase that perfect temperature range for the full time RV’er. Summer too hot, head to Chimicum in Washington state. Hate snow, head to any one of the southwestern states (We spent Christmas and most of January in Benson at the Saguaro park in temperate weather).
In travelling we discovered the SKP Park of the Sierras located in Coarsegold, California. This SKP co-op park is conveniently located to E’s family members who live in California and is a good three season area. We stayed here as guests a few times and took the orientation tour with some of the great members here in September of 2022. We had also stayed at the RV “resort” a couple miles up the road from here a few times. The difference between the two is interesting. For a nightly rate of $180 (starting), you get a pool and a concierge desk. They help you get parked and have a nice little store in the office. You are supporting a for profit corporation by staying there and have no knowledge of the folks next to you for your stay.
As you know, many RV parks are just big parking lots. Even the SKP parks are built along these lines (with bigger lots). Park of Sierra is different. It was pioneered by a group of folks in the late 1980’s who scratched it out of the scrub and poison oak. This park is 160 acres with 245 full hook up sites. There are miles of hiking trails within the park that are tame to challenging. The original stagecoach road to Coarsegold runs through the park and lest you think the park be overdeveloped, there is 60 acres across Coarsegold creek that is not to be developed. There is a 12,000 sq ft clubhouse with showers, laundry, meeting rooms, library, industrial kitchen, mail service and they even have dry camping. The park is built in the foothills without seeming to affect the landscape. There is no “parking lot” and you get nature on your doorstep daily.
After much deliberation, we decided that Park of Sierras offered us the best of many needs and was a great fit for our lifestyle at the moment. We bought in and are now parked in our spot perched on a hill looking out our living room windows toward the Sierra Mountains. Coarsegold creek, just a short walk downhill from here is running nicely with clear cold Sierra water, The California Quail pause in our spot to pick gravel up and take dirt baths, while the Hawks, Vultures, Dove, Ravens, and assorted other birds fill the air with their calls and shadows. The air, according to S.F. Bay area relatives is “special and clean”. If this sounds Idyllic, well, it might be. This is not a permanent home but it is a respite from travelling. An oasis from the road when we want to regroup and relax for an extended time while being in the company of friends and other members of our extended travel family.
So, food for thought if you are interested in staying here or even joining our little co-op, let me know and we offer a discount for your stay as a first timer. If you know our big blue Beacon and are here in the park, stop by and say hi, There is always cold water, tea, soda, sometimes homemade lemonade.
Update: The Escapees ownership has been sold to the HarvestHost company. This does not effect any of the co-op parks or the mail service at this time. The family has vowed to retain the mail service and the Rainbow’s End park in Texas. All the other “owned parks” are for sale at the time of this update. We are waiting to see how all of this washes out and will update when we know more. Again, this does not effect the co-op parks, Come see us!
See you out there,
BFD
