Escapees? - Montana Owners Club

Montana_2753 · 05-14-2005, 08:56 AM

OK, here goes: I have the Nationwide Thousand Trails Membership (two weeks in/one week out), Passport America, Resort Parks International Preferred plan (two weeks in, no homepark mileage restrictions/no out time restrictions/$8.00 per night). I have done some looking into Escapees (talked to people at booth in Quartzsite/looked at magazine and website). I am not fulltime, yet, but probably will be within the next year. What are major benefits of Escapees that make it worthwhile to be a member

Thanks for any input.

Bruce

sreigle · 05-14-2005, 10:44 AM

Rather than trying to explain them all, here's the url that might give you a better view of the benefits. I know I'd forget many of them.

http://www.escapees.com

ols1932 · 05-14-2005, 10:46 AM

Quote:

quote:Originally posted by bigskyguy

OK, here goes: I have the Nationwide Thousand Trails Membership (two weeks in/one week out), Passport America, Resort Parks International Preferred plan (two weeks in, no homepark mileage restrictions/no out time restrictions/$8.00 per night). I have done some looking into Escapees (talked to people at booth in Quartzsite/looked at magazine and website). I am not fulltime, yet, but probably will be within the next year. What are major benefits of Escapees that make it worthwhile to be a member

Thanks for any input.

Bruce

We've been Escapees for five years. This organization caters to the serious RVer. They have a wonderful mail service and they go to bat for you when legislation is being enacted that affects RVers. For example, when Texas passed property tax legislation a couple years ago that caused all trailers to be taxed as personal property, the Escapees RV Club, working with State Senator Todd Staples and Governor Perry, got the tax law rescinded and our money was returned.

The Escapees RV Club has RV parks across the southern border of the US and up the west coast. You can dry camp for $2.50/night, first night free. Full hookups run $8.50 - 10.50/night. These are nice, clean parks that are well maintained.

We especially appreciate the camaraderie of the Escapees people. We wouldn't think of not belonging to this club. If you e-mail me personally, I'll give you more information. Or, you can go to www.escapees.com and you'll get all the information about the club. Good luck

stiles watson · 05-14-2005, 10:57 AM

WE are a members of Escapees mainly because of their interest in lobbying for rvers. They really seem to keep their ear to the ground on legislative issues. Their Care facility is a rarely found recuperative center that seems, to me, a very sensitive RVer service.

sreigle · 05-14-2005, 02:17 PM

Orv, if I may add one thing to your description - they also have parks throughout the country signed up to give you 15% off the daily rate. They provide a directory of these parks, as does Passport America.

Now, can you or anyone un-confuse me on something? We joined Escapees a few months ago. There are Rainbow parks. There are co-op parks. There are discount parks. There may be some others. What I need to figure out is just what does that mean to me when I am traveling or planning to stay in an area. I think it's the discount parks that are not escapee-owned and I can get the 15% discount. Participating in the program, in other words.

I know there are some ownership opportunities in the other types of parks but at the moment I'm not interested in those. I AM interested in which parks I can use when we're traveling or staying in one place for a month or two, and what will it cost me. I don't find the large amount of literature to be much help in unconfusing this poor muddled old mind. Can someone explain this to me in terms of what it means to an Escapees member traveling around the country?

Thanks.

bob n pam · 05-15-2005, 12:59 PM

Hi Steve, we've been Escapees for several years now and have used the 15% discount benefit quite a bit. You need to use the Escapee directory, supplied by Escapees, which lists the participating private RV parks, show your membership card and go from there.

sreigle · 05-15-2005, 02:30 PM

Thanks for the reply, Bob n Pam. I do use that directory for the discount parks but saw something about also using the ones owned by Escapees and those where they sell sites that you can rent overnight or longer if the owner is not there. I'd like to find out more about this so I know more about our options when we are traveling. Thanks.

Gypsy · 05-15-2005, 03:58 PM

Steve - You're right about the discount parks being non-Escapee owned. They are parks that are listed in Woodall's and/or Trailer Life Directories and are open to the public without any membership requirements. They typically offer 15% off the regular nightly rate, and they usually require you to pay by cash or check, not credit card, in order to get that discount. If you stay a week or more, the weekly/monthly rates are usually better, so the discount isn't valid. Does that make sense?

SKP Co-op Parks are owned by the Escapees members who buy into the park. They are just that - a cooperative, like a condominium where the building or complex is jointly owned by the residents. There are 11 Co-op Parks nationwide, mostly west coast and southern US. You can stay there whenever owners are traveling and have left their sites open for the rental pool. Even if they're full, they usually have boondocking space. I've stayed in several and have always been greeted with a big SKP hug and wonderful friendliness.

Rainbow Parks are owned by Escapees Inc, the corporation. There are 8 of them in 7 states (2 in TX). As an Escapees member, you can also stay in them the same way as the Co-op Parks. The only difference is how the parks are owned and operated, but that would only affect you if you decide to buy into one, and I don't plan to at this point so my understanding stops there.

Bigskyguy - Back to your original question. I'm also a member of Thousand Trails, Passport America and RPI (not Preferred), plus a few others, and am a full-timer so I have to find a place to stay 365 nights per year. SKP parks are always among my first choices because of the cameraderie and family-feeling, as well as low cost. The main reason I joined Escapees was for the people, not the discounts. I love Escapades (rallies, two per year, Fall and Spring) and I get together with other Solos (one of the Birds of a Feather, or BOFs) frequently. (LOTS of other BOFs exist, focused on just about anything you might be interested in - visit the list on the website.) None of these other organizations have anything close to the people connections and spirit of friendliness of the Escapees Club.

Also, in addition to the SKP discount parks, Co-op Parks and Rainbow Parks, there are individual members listed in the directory who will allow you to stay overnight or longer on their property. And, finally, there are businesses who offer Escapees a bigger discount. These are all listed as well.

Hope this helps,
Sharon

Montana_2753 · 05-15-2005, 05:07 PM

GypsySCM/et al: Thanks for all the replies and useful and helpful information. A LOT of questions have been answered.

Looks like this may be one of the next "memberships" I'll be acquiring. I've read a little about the BOF and there are a few of which I wouldn't mind being associated. One thing I have observed and witnessed: For a majority of RVers I come into contact, we are a great group of people! Maybe because we have a common interest, a "pioneering" spirit or are just great people!

Bruce

sreigle · 05-16-2005, 04:01 AM

Thanks, Sharon. That's what I was looking for. I didn't want to plan on calling or stopping at a Rainbow or Co-op park and then find they don't have overnight facilities. I guess I should call first anyhow. Thanks.

ols1932 · 05-18-2005, 02:45 AM

Quote:

quote:Originally posted by sreigle

Thanks, Sharon. That's what I was looking for. I didn't want to plan on calling or stopping at a Rainbow or Co-op park and then find they don't have overnight facilities. I guess I should call first anyhow. Thanks.

Steve,
Everything that's been said is about Escapees Parks is true. You don't need to call ahead unless you think they may be full. They'll tell you whether or not they have room. We have never been shut out of an Escapee park. You can lease a lot for life at the co-op parks and only pay a small yearly maintenance fee. When you decide to let your lease go, you receive back all the money you originally paid for the lease (not the yearly maintenance fees). Where else can you invest your money like that. We are presently #4 on the waiting list for a lot at The Ranch in Lakewood, NM. That will give us a home base out of which to work. We like to have a place to settle down for a month or two going west and returning east each year.

All the Escapee (SKP-as affectionately known) parks are well maintained and very comfortable in which to park. We are traveling east right now and decided to go to Branson, MO for a few days. Well, guess what, there is a SKP park just south of Branson called Turkey Creek RV park. We pulled in and they had many nice, full-hookup sites available. The rates are $12/night-30amp for members. Can't beat that.

Hope this gives you a little bit more info.
Orv

sreigle · 05-18-2005, 06:10 AM

Thanks, Orv. I appreciate it. We may look into the home base idea one of these days. For now, all our kids are in one area so that's where we'll 'home base' from. If one of them moves we might look into two homebases and see if Escapees has something closeby.

Enjoy Branson. Can't beat that price. I have a cousin in nearby Kimberling City. We stayed at a park near there once but that was pre-escapees-membership.

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