3 Tips For RVing During The Fall Shoulder Season
Every fall you’ll see them. Long convoys of motorhomes, fifth wheels, and trailers headed west or south on America’s interstates. Many of those drivers are snowbirds in search of the endless summer.
Along the way, they’ll learn important lessons about RV trip planning in the fall shoulder season. Let’s look at three of them.
RVing in the transition time between summer and fall (the “shoulder season”) allows us to be free of summer crowds and peak season prices. But if we’re not careful, it also forces us to learn some important lessons like:
1. Weather is unpredictable.
Mother Nature has fun during the fall shoulder season. One day she’ll give us a break from brutal summer temperatures and fool us into thinking that fall has arrived. But before we get too comfortable in jeans and sweaters, Whammo! The next day we’ll wake up to a blistering heatwave.
For example, last week my husband and I left Colorado. After several mornings of hard frost daybreaks, we believed freezing weather was imminent. We broke camp and fled to lower elevations in New Mexico but we forgot that it was still summer down below.
What a hassle when we realized we had already stowed our hot weather clothing. We also didn’t know if our A/C was working because we hadn’t used it all summer.
Luckily, it worked and I even found our flip flops under the bed. Amazingly once we got just two states away, we were pummeled by rain for two days in the Southern California mountains.
The big lesson here? Be prepared for any kind of weather.
2. Hunting season keeps you on your toes.
Non-hunters like me are usually oblivious to hunting season’s start dates. But even us non-hunters need to know when the season starts if we enjoy camping on public lands during fall. Here’s why:
- Public lands and forest service roads in popular hunting areas (the Rockies, Cascades, etc.) will be busy with hunters.
- A hunter might not be able to distinguish between you and a white-tailed deer if you’re out hiking.
- Animals will be on the move, grazing at roadsides and crossing highways.
Years ago I forgot that October is hunting season in the Rockies. While going for my morning run on a forest service trail, I was almost shot by a hunter who thought my white ball cap was the butt of a deer. I’ve never forgotten his stern warning to wear bright orange on the trail. Today, I just avoid those areas altogether for my morning workout. After all, orange just isn’t my color.
3. RV park vacancies work in your favor.
Traveling in-between seasons means that many campgrounds are emptier than usual. Last week we arranged a two-week stay at a popular snowbird RV park that’s booked solid between Thanksgiving and April.
If we want to check out nearby national park attractions and camp there, odds are we can get in. Many state and national park campgrounds have more vacancies at this time of year.
And finally, many great RV parks that belong to popular discount camping clubs lift their club usage restrictions during shoulder seasons. We often pay half-off on luxury resorts that cater to snowbirds, just by arriving a few weeks earlier.
The longer you stay on the road full-time, the more lessons you learn that make this lifestyle so enjoyable. What are some important snowbird lessons you’ve picked up through the years? Be sure to comment below.
See also: 12 Fall Drives Where You Can See Colorful Foliage This Season
Rene Agredano and her husband, Jim Nelson, became full-time RVers in 2007 and have been touring the country ever since. In her blog, Rene chronicles the ins and outs of the full-timing life and brings readers along to meet the fascinating people and amazing places they visit on the road. Her road trip adventures are chronicled in her blog at LiveWorkDream.com.
Stern warning to wear orange on the trail, hmmm?
While I don’t hunt, I do enjoy shooting, and I do know a thing or two about hunting safety. A couple of the cardinal rules are to never shoot at any target you have not clearly identified (even thinking about shooting at “some white thing you saw moving in the brush” because you thought it looked like the back-end of a whitetail would be a clear violation of this rule) and another is to be aware of what is beyond your target. That is, “Where is my round going to go if I miss?” While it’s true that if you’ve followed the first rule you shouldn’t miss, but hey, it happens.
So, if I were in that situation, I’d be fairly likely to tell the hunter that while you have a point and I should have been wearing orange (that’s very good advice), you also need to pay more attention to hunting safety rules, lest you kill someone. Taking a shot like that, even if the target is a deer, is likely to end in a miss, or worse, in an animal that is wounded and either suffers a slow, painful death or doesn’t die but spends weeks in pain while its injury heals. Hunting is about one shot, one (quick, humane) kill. You don’t get that by shooting animals obscured by brush.
Lest somebody say “That’s easy for you to say; you’re a shooter but not a hunter,” well, my boss is both. He hunts Elk most autumns, and always returns with two things: an elk, and one round less than he had on departure.
“some dude who likes to fish” is correct. Ey hike, fish, and use my camera in many national forests during all seasons. Ey have found most hunters follow the rules, but many are just out to kill something, anything. Many are using alcohol. Many have shot cows thinking they were deer. Many have shot their partners because they didn’t know how to use the safety. Ey wear an orange cap as it may give me a little protection against these so called “hunters.”
I always get a kick out of the luxury resort campgrounds. To me luxury is a campground with a good, clean, toilet and shower. That’s it. That’s all I want so why would I want to pay more to camp someplace with a bunch of stuff I don’t want?
A few of the above posting comments appear to be some what biased against hunters and that is a shame. Legal hunters reflect what I find decent in our society, courtesy! Should a hunter carrying a fire arm and encountering a game officer ever be determined to be under the influence consequences range from a ticket and fine to arrest and confiscation of the fire arm. Like all things we do these days we know there are those who attempt to skirt the law and many seem to get away with illegal activities for a long time. As a traveler and a hunter in a unfamiliar location I make every effort to know if any restrictions / limitations are currently in use. On the other hand, I have read of many hikers and joggers being attacked by wild game because they choose to ignore the posted signs. If you do not know where you are by definition, you are lost. Fall is a beautiful time of the year to get outside and enjoy nature, it is also the beginning of the hunting season. A spot of orange catches my eye especially if it is moving!
We enjoy camping in the west during the shoulder season. But weather can be an issue.
One good example: we spent time in the Moab area last year in late September. We wanted to visit during a less-hot time of year. But we had to cross the Rockies to get back home to Kansas. So we had to find a place to overnight that was below 9,500 feet so our tanks wouldn’t freeze September 29 and 30.
We has a similar problem in Grand Teton National Park the year before. It was warmish in Yellowstone, but snow was expected before we left the Tetons. And every day it changes.
Max, I agree that it ‘looks’ like the comment was addressed to hunters, but I think it was pointing at those who purchased a weapon some years ago, fired it twice on a range and still have not cleaned it.
Apologies to hunters, the people that fit my description, it’s still not to late. Go to a range with a range master, or a good gun shop and inquire about lessons!
Please, Thank You
I agree with all of the tips, from driving through hailstorms to engine breakdowns and getting towed. Shoulder season is a great time to travel before its gets crowded in the south west and “Pick your spot” before people arrive.
Great advise. Especially about the “Getting shot in the woods” thang. That could definitely ruin your day…..