Thousand Trails Year Two

Our second year of Thousand Trails expires on June 30, 2020. The program has worked very well for us again, as it would for most traveling full-timers.

Little Diamond WA campsite overlooked a large disc golf arena.
There was an indoor hot tub and ice cream socials once a week.

This year I am closing out this record-keeping a little early because we bought a boat in April and hope to be sailing the rest of 2020+ and into the forseeable future. Therefore we will not be renewing our Thousand Trails membership for a third year in July.

Cherokee Landing TN was a quiet park with an abundance of wildlife

But, if we were to remain full-timers I definitely would renew it.  Even with only 9 months of use we still came out way ahead. 

Here's how the math broke down for our second year of  membership:

Date		Description	Value	Balance
7/1/2019		Basic Program Dues w/1 zone (NorthEast)	($585)	($585)
7/1/2019		Trails Collection	($214)	($799)
7/1/2019		Two Additional Zones (SouthWest, SouthEast)	($108)	($907)
7/1/2019		Zones - One more zone (NorthWest)	($54)	($961)
7/9/2019		Portland Fairview Encore (4 nights @ $20 vs $63.60)	$174	($787)
7/21/2019		Birch Bay WA (4 nights @$0 vs $68.11)	$272	($514)
7/26/2019		Little Diamond WA (14 nights @ $0 vs $44/night)	$616	$102
9/24/2019		Cherokee Landing TN (14 nights @ $0 vs $44/night)	$616	$718
10/16/2019		Natchez Trace TN (10 nights @ $0 v $44.61/night)	$446	$1,164
11/12/2019		Crystal Isles FL ($0 v 1@$63, 10 @ $47)	$533	$1,697
3/19/2020		Goose Creek NC (12 nights @ $0 vs $80)	$960	$2,657

As we discovered before, the Encore resorts are swankier, and some of the older basic TT resorts are in need of significant maintenance. Thousand Trails can always be counted on for at least the basics, and we always go in expecting just that and let ourselves by pleasantly surprised by any extras.

Goose Creek, NC, has a stocked pond in which the kids fish all day

We did not have any problems getting into areas we wanted to visit; we didn't always get the exact resort or the exact dates we wanted but we could always land close enough with some flexibility.

So, our annual investment for this second year was $961, which we turned into $2657 of free camping, which worked out to be an average of $13.93/night for our year's investment. We'll be parking the RV in storage soon after transitioning onto the boat, otherwise we would be seeking additional campsites through the last quarter of our membership and these figures would be even more favorable.

Crystal River, FL has boat ramps and manatees

Closing out our account was a bit of a hassle, they want it in writing as well as by phone call during which time they tried to talk me out of it. Because I'm a belts-and-suspenders type of gal, I also did a website chat and then followed-up by e-mail which they confirmed over a month after receipt. Time well tell if it has all been cancelled properly. I'll let you know in July.

Natchez Trace Campground in TN winds around a large pond.
The park also contains a fabulous rec hall with pool tables and a foosball table.