[JRTJH]

When we first started RVing, it was to avoid the "high prices at Motel 6"... We bought a VW campmobile and stayed at rest areas or a "camper park" for $5, rather than pay the $15 at Motel 6.

Through the 70's and 80's and into the 90's that remained somewhat true. Then, as campgrounds began to "commercialize" and prices started going up, the "better campgrounds" cost as much as Motel 6, but they were still a bargain compared to the Holiday Inn/Hampton prices, so we kept RVing...

Then, sometime around 2000 or so, the "JellyStone Jungle" type of RV park began to appear. Extremely nice landscaping, concrete pads with concrete fire rings, speed bumps, two pools (one for kids one for adults and kids) and signs everywhere warning people to clean up after their dogs, not to walk on the grass, no glass bottles, no alcohol in public, and a long list of other "don'ts"... Along with those amenities came "double pricing" and reservations. That has escalated to where, in some areas, government camping in "rustic locations" is following the "make reservations and pay extra"... Far more commercialization than in the past, both in private parks and in government owned property.

What used to be "solitude, easy to find and quiet" is now crowded and hard to find and the same environment as many "city neighborhoods"... Seems to me with the 3 TV's, 2 kitchens, full hookups, internet and a "boatload of electric toy vehicles, bikes and trikes, many "current RV'ers are just relocating their house to the campground for the weekend...

I too wonder how long people will continue to do this when the price of the RV doubles, price for gas doubles and cost to rent a campsite costs as much a a night at the Hampton or the Holiday Inn express (and mom still has to do the dishes in the RV)...