THOUSAND TRAILS

Well, the heat continues but that is not new for August in Texas.  I have been filling in at the place I retired from so I have been keeping really busy.  They have asked me to work a couple days a week throughout the month of August, so I am.  They are paying me well enough to make it worth my while, plus I like getting to socialize with old friends.

I know some of you out there are not "membership" type RVers.  However, they work well for us.  So, we just bought a membership in Thousand Trails.  Whether you are a full-time RVer or half-time RVer (you still have a "sticks and bricks" home), everyone has their own way of doing it.  Mr. W and I are the type of people who do not feel comfortable going anywhere without reservations.  There's good and bad in that.  The good is that you have peace of mind that you already definitely have some place to be each night, you can spend some time reviewing where you are going to be, you can compare rates and ratings of parks in the area, and you can plan your travel time because there isn't a chance that you will have to keep moving from town to town looking for a suitable place with vacancies.  The bad is that if something happens to delay you at one spot, it has screwed up your reservations at least at your next spot if not all of your spots. That can mean loss of money you have paid to hold your reservation and you can't be spontaneous if you travel through a town/area that you think would be a neat place to stay.

We are members/owners in Marina Village on lake Livingston.  If you follow my blog, we affectionately refer to this place as "the lake."  We have been members/owners since 1982 and it is a beautiful place.  We joined Coast to Coast (C2C) through the park and have stayed at several C2C parks on several different trips.  Last year, when we traveled east, we used C2C quite a bit and stayed at some nice parks. We have the C2C Deluxe membership which basically means we can stay at other C2C Deluxe parks for 2 weeks instead of 1 week and we can make reservations in C2C parks 90 days prior instead of 60 days prior.  Since a lot of the parks only allow "x amount" of C2C members to be in the park at one time, having the 90 days prior helps ensure you are in that "x amount".  You reserve online in C2C parks for $10 per night.  However, each park can, and usually does, charge you extra for 50 amp service or pull-thru sites or "resort" fees.  So, it ends up costing around $15 to $18 per night. Still not a bad price.

We have had the hardest time trying to get reservations in the H-town area, especially around holiday time. So, we decided to join Thousand Trails.  We knew there is a nice Thousand Trails park in the Conroe area which is fairly close to Son and family. You can stay in TT parks for 3 weeks and then you have to leave for a week and twice a year, we can pay $29 and stay the week we are suppose to leave.  Our children can buy a family pass for $40 and stay at any TT park for free as long as we are not staying at a TT park during that time.  Twice a year, we can stay in a TT park with them for a week and everyone stays for free.  They can come in as our guest and stay for a fee. 

Thousand Trails has many, many different types of memberships. Mr. W has read and researched the many types and decided we wanted an Elite membership.  You can buy an Elite membership through one of the TT parks and pay $6,000 to $8,000.  Mr. W found a membership broker who sells memberships in all different kinds of organizations.  We bought an Elite membership for $1,800 plus $750 transfer fee. 

We are hoping to use the other 60 to 70 other TT parks as we travel.  With our Elite membership, we can stay 3 weeks at one park and leave and go directly to another TT park and stay 3 weeks and leave and go directly.........you get the idea.  We don't have to stay out as long as we are moving to a different park.

The facilities at the park in Conroe are very nice.  The RV sites are all out in the sun.  The trees are few and far between.  None of the sites are even close to the lake. So, I'm still looking for the perfect park.  One with the facilities at the Conroe park and the sites at "the lake".  I guess I can dream.......