Escapees RV forum - Montana Owners Club

CasaDelSol · 03-28-2010, 08:11 AM

I know a lot of people in the MOC belong to Escapees, but I am wondering what they do. Do they have offer discounts on campgrounds like Passport America, etc? I know they have a good mail forwarding service, but what else do they offer? thanks

bob n pam · 03-28-2010, 08:26 AM

They do lots! They offer discounts on private campgrounds - some 15%, some 50%, they have their own campgrounds across the country where you can stay for drastically reduced rates, some with lots you can lease and some you can buy. They have lots of rallys and excursion events called HOPS, they lobby for RVer's rights and keep an eye on Congress. Plus a myriad of other things. Check out their website for more info. www.escapees.com

**Rondo** · 03-28-2010, 10:31 AM

Bob and Pam-- Question for you. I see that they give a discount to Passport America members, are the Escapees parks and etc the same as the Passport American parks and if so which do you get a better price for using? Is Passport America part of Escapees or viceversa??

richfaa · 03-28-2010, 11:09 AM

We are Escapees. We have stayed at Escapees parks. There are not all that many of them. Passport america is a stand alone company. We got Coach net road service and Sky med a medical insurance through them at a good discount. Over all it is worth while group to belong to. Their forum is....different.. I do not get along well over there. They are sort of full timer oriented but when I asked them what a full timer was I got hit pretty hard. There are a lot of "experts " over there and they don't mind letting you know. There are a lot of "don't tell me anything I don't want to hear" folks on the forum. But.. It is worth the dues if you travel a lot.

adelmoll · 03-29-2010, 02:44 AM

We love the Escapees.. Six years ago we were in the group that started the "Full Time Graduating Class of".. In our case it is the class of '05 but every year thare has been new classes started. We meet all ove the USA. In fact right now we are in Texas waiting on our "All Class Reunion" that is planned for April 13th in Bourne.. They are a great group of fun loving people that would do anything for each other. You can get on the forum without joining Escapees Joanie.. I think you would love it. The true Escapee Parks are a great place to stay for a day, month or year..Check out the one near you in Bushnell or Wachula to get an idea.

You can read about the Fulltime Class of 2010 and I'll bet you join it.. It is so much fun. I will be putting a bunch of pictures on my blog later today of a great time we had with a bunch of Escapees yesterday.. The Bob and Molly that I mention are new employees of Escapee's and will be in charge of next years Escapade.. This year they are in training at the one in Goshen in September.. You could try to go to that and then stay around for the MOC rally that follows in the same place. You will learn a lot at both rally's but you will learn everything about fulltiming at the Escapade.

As for the know it all's on the forum that Rich talks about, you will pick them out right away and then just ignore them.. There are some on every forum.

Hugs,
Helen

ols1932 · 03-29-2010, 02:50 AM

I'm going to answer from the viewpoint of a lifetime member of the Escapees RV Club. They are a club that caters to the RVer. By that I mean that every state and/or municipality/federal that begin talking about laws to restrict RVers in any way hears it from the Escapees HQ. Escapees has banded with FMCA, Good Sam and other RV functions to insure that we are not taken advantage of. One recent example was when the State of Texas passed a law placing a property tax on all of us who were domiciled in Texas, Escapees RV Club got the bill repealed.

If you hear of bad things from individual Escapees, these are more than likely some who have had their tails twisted by the Club. By that I'm saying, without going into detail, that they weren't allowed to do some things at Escapee Parks that they wanted to.

Escapees has several parks across the lower part of the country and in Lakewood, NM where we have a leased lot, as well as in Congress, AZ which is northwest of Phoenix, AZ.

The rates for Escapees is much below the going rate. Usually around $13/night. The parks located across the lower part of the country are located about a day's drive apart and were purchased by Escapees with that in mind.

Keep in mind also, that you will find disgruntled people in every activity of life. If it doesn't go their way, they sulk.

Orv

Gypsy · 03-29-2010, 03:48 AM

I'm also a Lifetime member of Escapees, and I second what Helen and Orv posted. The Escapees discussion forum is where I went for information when I first started RVing full-time as a Solo and new widow. The learning curve was *very* steep and I had to learn most things by the seat of my pants. When I attended my first Escapade, I couldn't believe how many hugs I got, and how much support and genuine concern everyone had for my safety and knowledge. Nobody cared whether I was a full-timer. As Nick Russell (Gypsy Journal) says, "I'm a member of FMCA and I'm a member of Good Sam, but I *am* an Escapee!"

Phyllen · 03-29-2010, 05:00 AM

We,too, are members of Escapees and have stayed twice at the Livingston park. We are recent fulltimers. As far as the forum, I have found NEVER say anything negative about Texas! I relayed how we initially domiciled in Texas after thinking we knew what we were doing. Quickly found out we made a costly mistake. Effective 4/1 we are domiciled in South Dakota.

Otherwise, we are pleased with our membership to Escapees. Just need to remember this - NEVER SAY ANYTHING NEGATIVE ABOUT TEXAS. LOL!

bob n pam · 03-29-2010, 09:41 AM

Rondo, I think your question has been answered, but I'll add this. As far as I know Passport America is set up to provide discount camping. Escapees is set up to provide discount camping, camraderie, education, fun times, etc. We are members of both and find both to be very worthwhile.

CasaDelSol · 03-29-2010, 10:33 AM

WOW....so many devotees!!! Thank you all so much. I would be foolish to pass up anything that so many are passionate about. Great comments. I'm sold!!

richfaa · 03-29-2010, 12:00 PM

BTW.. The 2010 Escapee's rally is at the very same Elkhart County Fairgrounds in Goshen, Ind the week before our Fall Rally. We will be there for both rallies and my guess is many other MOC'ers will also.

HamRad · 03-29-2010, 05:57 PM

Rich,
I must disagree with your assessment of your situation with the SKP Forum. You do great and more than "hold your own" in the various discussions I've seen. And I think Helen summed up the situation very accurately.

CasaDelSol,
Escapees is a great organization. If for nothing else their magazine is worth the price of admission. Well almost..... ..... They do a lot of great work to improve the world for the RVer. I think you'll get your monies worth.

Dennis

Wild Horse · 03-30-2010, 02:44 AM

OK, maybe i'll get nabbed for this but...

We are new to this rving stuff, but have done alot of researching. I had been meaning to get over to the skp site and take a look...after reading this thread, I did just that. First, my disclaimer...I spent about 45 minutes on there, and I intend to re-visit and look some more. But, my initial reactions are as follows: Looking at their campgrounds and the info on them, I must say it was quite confusing. Different types...one even said something like "for a brief stay...." then a paragraph down it talked about weekly and monthly ??? I don't think they did a very good job of explaining the different definitions/rules/etc of their campgrounds. On the same note, I looked at campgrounds giving disounts to skp members..most were 15% off daily rate. I saw no discount off of weekly, etc. While that may come in handy on occasion, I saw no real big deal with that. Looking at their other services (which were many) I see where some could certainly take advantage of the membership. For me tho'...at least at this time...I don't really see an advantage. There are lots of clubs/orgs out there, and they certainly appear to be one of the good sized one's. But if I already belong to good sam's, aaa, etc. I don't really see any large advantage to joining yet another for 60 bucks a year. Maybe I'm missing something ?? I'll continue to research them, of course. But I'm failing to see the big draw.
Bill

BirdingRVer · 03-30-2010, 03:54 AM

We are also Escapee members and have attended one of their Rallies and stayed at or visited 6 of their parks.

At its heart the Escapees are a group primarily for fulltimers and wannabe fulltimers. I joined the Escapee forum as a lurker years before we bought our first trailer. In all of my planning for fulltiming I never found a better source of information on fulltiming.

Since we have been on the road we have used their mail forwarding service and could not be happier with the service we have received.

Escapee Parks come in two verities those that are owned by the Escapee Organization and those that are independently owned CO-OPs. With the exception of the CO-OP in Yuma we have always received a friendly welcome. The nightly fees vary but, I don't think we have ever paid more than $13 per night for the daily rate or $9 per night for the weekly rate.

Escapees also have a wide verity of special interest groups such as Boomers, Boondockers, Geocachers, and regional chapters.

I find their forum gives a wide perspective of RVing and life on the road. The forum is free, and mostly friendly.

8.1al · 03-30-2010, 04:14 AM

As mentioned above the Escapees do a lot to promote and protect rv'ing, lobbying in Washington, helping defeat parking ordinances, etc. This is the main reason we joined the SKP's, the rest is just a bonus. The Escapees are big on hugging. One spring we stopped in El Paso for lunch and the weather was glorius, mid 70's, sunny. The farther East we went the worse the weather got, the temp dropped into mid 30's, it was sleeting, foggy, drizzling. By the time we got to Pecos, TX I was wrung out and we were desperate for a campground. As luck woul have it there was a SKP park. When I walked into the office the lady behind the desk must have sensed my state of mind as she asked if I had gotten my SKP hug that day. When I replied"no" she came around the desk and gave me a big hug. You'll never know how much that meant.

ols1932 · 03-30-2010, 07:39 AM

Quote:

quote:Originally posted by BirdingRVer

With the exception of the CO-OP in Yuma we have always received a friendly welcome.

Grant, I agree with you. But they have now changed managers who are doing a great job. I don't know when you were there last, but try them again.

Orv

BirdingRVer · 03-31-2010, 04:02 AM

Quote:

quote:Originally posted by ols1932

Quote:

quote:Originally posted by BirdingRVer

With the exception of the CO-OP in Yuma we have always received a friendly welcome.

Grant, I agree with you. But they have now changed managers who are doing a great job. I don't know when you were there last, but try them again.

Orv

Orv,

It was back in January of 2008. We haven't been in the Yuma area since then. When we are next in the area I would be glad to give them a second chance.

Grant

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