[Editor: Turned off comments. Your messages came through loud and clear.]
This is our third year at the same southwest Florida campground but it’s definitely different this year. The park manager of this small operation is the same as in past years, we have the same RV site, the pool and pickleball court are the same, too. So, what’s changed? The clientele, or, more specifically, the utility workers.
This year, as Hubby and I walk around the small RV park, we notice something we hadn’t seen in years past. It’s the number of vehicles sporting the same electrical company’s logo. That’s right, we’ve had an influx of electrical workers move into the park. Turns out, they are contracted to work on upgrading Florida’s electrical grid. That’s fine. What’s not so fine? They seem to have priority over regular campers, like us.
I have nothing against folks who work for electrical companies. After all, they are the ones who help Hubby and me stay comfortable whether we’re running our furnace in our stix-n-brix home or running our air conditioner to stay cool in the Florida heat and humidity. What bugs me is that the park operators have decided to give the workers preferential treatment. (At least it seems that way to me.)
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A little history
This small campground has really suffered during the past two years of the COVID pandemic. In 2020, about one-third of the RV sites were unoccupied. Last year, during Florida’s “season,” more than half of the sites remained empty. Canadians from years past simply didn’t come. Whether it was because of the difficulty of crossing into the USA from Canada, or the thought of trying to return to their homeland (mandated quarantines), we weren’t able to enjoy the company of our north-of-the-border friends. Other former snowbirds, frightened by COVID, stayed home in hopes of getting their vaccines. Turns out, we got our first vaccine shot here in Florida in early January. Missouri didn’t offer vaccinations until later in the spring.
With all of the COVID upheaval, I can only imagine the hit to our little campground’s bottom line. We tried to help out as we could. Hubby and I re-sided a cabin and repaired decks on a few more. We renovated the interior of one park model “home” and installed new window air conditioners in two others. But still, a lot of maintenance remained to be done. The camp simply couldn’t afford the materials to do it.
What a difference a year makes
Fast forward to 2022. Today as I look out our RV windows, I see a full campground. I’m happy for the park owners, but I’m a little disappointed, as well. You see, last year we walked the park at different times of day to see if another RV site would provide better shade along with greater Wi-Fi and TV reception. At the end of our stay last year (2021), we requested a specific site for this year’s stay (2022). We spoke directly to the camp manager who agreed on our new, preferred spot. We spoke to the manager two additional times prior to arriving this year. Each time we were assured that our new, requested spot was happily awaiting our arrival. We had no reason to think otherwise. After all, we’d worked alongside the guy and considered him a reliable person. A friend.
You can probably guess what happened. When we arrived this year, we were told our requested site was “taken.” We were reassigned to our “old” site. We were disappointed. We wondered what had happened, but decided to make the best of it. Day after day, our preferred “reserved” site remained unoccupied. In fact, it was not occupied for four continuous weeks! Then, last Friday, the electrical trucks rolled into the park. And kept on coming. And coming. It felt rather like an invasion. As we watched the campground fill with utility workers, we finally knew why our perfect spot was “taken.”
Why utility workers?
As the country returns to normalcy after COVID, companies are searching for ways to cut costs while still expanding their businesses. In years past, workers stayed in hotels while stationed at worksites away from their permanent homes. Now, it seems, more and more companies are discovering that it’s much less expensive to house their people in campground cabins or in RVs at campgrounds located closer to their work sites.
Why campgrounds? In addition to the rise in hotel costs, more and more companies can’t find affordable houses or apartments to rent. In addition, the cost of rent has skyrocketed in many areas of the country. That fact, along with the short supply of rentals available, has pushed more and more workers into campgrounds.
Park limitations aren’t stopping utility workers
You should know that this is an older park. It was originally built when RVs were much, much smaller and offered no slide-outs. The park’s roadway is quite narrow, as well. Consequently, many sites are very difficult to access with today’s big rigs. Sites are also very close together once you’ve extended your rig’s slides. All of these facts make parking our truck difficult in the best of circumstances. But now? At their assigned sites, the electrical utility workers have the personal vehicle that they used to tow their RV, along with a boat in several cases. These are parked on the limited grassy areas near their campsite. In addition, there are work trucks (with logo) parked all along the roadway and grass. The campground feels more like a utility company parking lot than a campground.
New money, new updates?
With all of the presumed influx of money, we hoped that improvements would be made to the pool and pickleball court. So far, no work has begun. The same goes for the sidewalks and the dog park. All of these park “perk” areas need attention. Serious attention. Why isn’t it happening? Our best guess is that because the utility workers do not use these amenities, they are not a priority for the park. It’s disappointing, to say the least.
Again, I understand that a buck is a buck. If the campground can have the assurance of a steady income stream from the electrical workers, more power to them. I’m just chafing because we didn’t get the site we’d counted on. I’m disappointed that updates and general maintenance haven’t begun. Maybe it will soon.
Just needed to vent…
Ooh! I just reread this and can already hear what you’re thinking! A great big ol’ pity party is in progress here, huh? Guess I need to count my blessings instead of griping? After all, I do get to vacation in a warm, sunny, and beautiful state. Thankfully, my working years are behind me. Hubby and I have good health and love living life together. If need be, we can look for a different campground for our next vacation, right?
Thanks for letting me vent. I feel better with this off my chest. I think I’ll go enjoy the sunshine. Who knows? Maybe I’ll meet a new friend who can fix the broken light in our RV fridge. (Wink, wink.)
Just wondering…
Related:
70% of last year’s campers say they will try it again in 2022
##RVT1039
So…you literally had to make an article to complain because you didn’t get the spot you wanted??? Boo hoo. Office apparently forgot about your request. And boy lots of misinformation on these poor workers. Those guys are paying for their spots, just like you. A lot of jobs require traveling and it is so much nicer staying in a camper that can feel like home versus a hotel which is usually substantially more and not going to feel homey at all. They’re also not getting any preference over you or anyone else lololol.
The unbelievable gall and privilege here. Holy crap.
Here… I’ll shorten it for the readers that couldn’t sit through it all and need a synopsis:
“Other people exist in campgrounds where we think we should get priority. Other people that are WORKING. At a campground that needs people to stay in business. Can you BELIEVE this inconvenience I’m having to endure???”
First come first serve don’t like it try a truck stop.
A lot of those utility workers are full timers just like us. They bring their families on the road with them and they like to sleep in their own beds. Others bunk together with coworkers and dash home for weekends and holidays with their families.
Some of them don’t actually get to talk to their co-workers during the work day. You’ll see them catching up at one of the tailgates or around the barbecue pit no matter what the weather does.
One of my work-camping neighbors would harvest beautiful produce from his back-home garden and for weeks I was rolling in Zucchini, Cucumbers, tomatoes, lettuce, onions and potatoes.
I’m sorry your RV Park didn’t give you the site you wanted. But, they may have done you a favor. You might have been annoyed being so close the after-work tailgating and the unavoidable noise of so many going off to work while others are free to sleep in.
Why don’t you bake some cookies for their lunch boxes? Maybe you’ll get invited to the barbecue?
If you do not like the way the campground is operated, you could buy it. Or you could go camp somewhere else.
One thing I think you may have forgotten about, even though you hint at it in your essay. If the campground business really was down as much as you say during the pandemic, perhaps the reason the owners aren’t updating the amenities is because 1) they accrued debt as a result of fewer campers/income, so now are trying to get back on track with finances. In addition, they seem to still have facility repairs to make before the perks are to your liking?
Also, siding with the workers — we do have many utility workers, along with plumbers, construction workers, etc in our park. Most have families and have chosen a life on the road together instead of being apart. Perhaps you could try a little attitude adjustment and “presume positive intent”. And try meeting the new campers?
As a “worker” which some of you know nothing about appearantly, I travel across the USA working in power plants, chemical plants, refineries. Almost anything to make a dollar to support and take care of my family. Sorry that workers are such an inconvenience to some people. We are out here trying to make money, and have to travel. Just trying to provide for our families!!! In a lot of cases the park owners are grateful to be able to charge us double or triple the normal price and give us the shittiest spots and service . It’s a better life to be in a rv than a hotel where the illegals and drug addicts have took over ! To me I have a safe zone for my family to come visit on occasion and stay while I’m out of town working,
I’m a linemans wife and our home is our trailer. The comment you made about hotels and rentals isn’t true. A large portion of linemans families call their rv their home full time. Alot of wives and kids travel as well. It’s a life choice, since we go where the work is. Before venting about something you don’t seem to know much about why don’t you attempt to go talk to your utility neighbors. We are very friendly have no problem talking about our lifestyle and life choices we have made to support our families while servicing towns and cities all over the US.
Well what would be real nice is if people like YOU wouldn’t book a year in advance so people like ME can plan a trip when the time allows and we would have a place to stay. Not so good now right? Stop your complaining!
She’s complaining about one specific campground on a global forum and feels upset for not getting the exact campsite that she always gets. Probably been her spot for 15 years and hella entitled. Maybe she needs to voice a complaint to the actual owners (likely family run) instead of ranting about times changing. She’s bitching about the workers while ignoring that the issues she notes are things only the campground owners control. And I’m sure it never, ever crosses her mind that Florida is a ***********.
I agree on that point. We have a small popup which is perfect for us and others look down or won’t allow pop-ups.
Hey gail, maybe the workers who are repairing YOUR infrastructure aren’t so glad to be sharing the park with some privelidged soccer mom who’s complaing about having her states grid system repaired! Ponder that for a moment while you sip your latte from star bucks and maybe be thankful for once!
Right!? She’s talking about it like it’s her own property and personally suffering because new people are moving in, and seems to acknowledge COVID, but is confused still as to why people won’t travel, like almost blaming other people for making that choice. And gonna be honest I’m married, but the amount of times she said Hubby made me almost vomit.
Hurricane season. Glad to see them.
First World Problems
Hey lady,why dont you dry camp with out power,c how you like that?
You are the apitomy of what i dont like in our park. Entitled small minded people.
Im retired,and have worked on the road in my trade.
STAY HOME
We have a contractor next to us in a toy hauler. I’m guessing they unloaded it at the work site before coming to the park.
A few years ago there were welders working on a bridge but there really isn’t any good housing near by.
Did it ever come to mind that if the park didn’t open the doors for these workers that your southern getaway may have to close the doors ? Because as you said the Canadian snowbirds can’t come because of Covid ! Maybe you should quit complaining and count your blessings!
Florida needs utility workers, what we don’t need is more entitled snowbirds and people on vacation. Florida is full, find another place to complain.
That’s what I did. Apparently, Arizona is not so full, humid, expensive, and unfriendly. Stay in Florida.
Trust me. Arizona is just as tired of hosting people who think we’re supposed to be grateful for their cash. We survive the 110° months and would love to enjoy the winter weather but can’t because snowbirds fill everything up. There’s a saying– if you can’t stand our summers, you don’t deserve our winters.
Something to think about.
Lol Florida is a garbage fire of elderly people, 20 something’s that only want to leave, and the vacationing upper middle class. The snowbirds realized that Florida ain’t worth jumping through a bunch of hoops for. You should too.
So sorry you feel this way. Husband and I worked pipeline for 33 years and at that time most people at Rv parks were construction workers. I hate to think of anyone thinking they are better or entitled to something more than the men and women that are physically out there making this world of ours to be able to have utilities at the flip of a switch or turn of the wrist. Just kindly remember we were likely there first and we keep this land of ours running. We are now retired and are on our 9th travel trailer,rv, fifth wheel and now motor home. Please show respect you’d be surprised just how friendly we are and how if you needed help with something you would see how willing we are to help. Respectfully
That’s pretty much how some Florida residents feel about snowbirds. All the sites are booked up by northerners 11 months in advance. Which is good for business but the average Florida family who wants to camp does not know the strategies they have to take to get a camp site. So they give up and have lost the opportunities to camp and make memories with their families.
It seems like the problem is Florida’s reliance on tourism, Florida’s nonexistent COVID protocols killing it’s citizens and steering visitors away, Florida’s backwards zoning and terrible infrastructure, and the increasing number of hurricanes due to human caused climate change.
I’m not a utility worker, but I am in pipeline. I travel the country from job to job, sometimes I don’t see home for months on end. I drive my own truck, that I’m paid for, and pull my RV. Between the truck pay and per diem, I get 150/day. Reg per diem is 100. Hotels for that are hard to find. So I stay in campgrounds for 30ish/night and can pocket the difference.
My frustration is just the opposite. In years past I’ve never had trouble finding places to park, but lately that’s changed. With the influx of new RVers since COVID, and all the long termers in places like Florida, it’s not uncommon for me to have over an hour drive each way to my job. On this job, I called 30 different RV parks before finding a site, and I’m 60 miles from my job. That equates to 14-16 hr days door to door.
Sorry the workers are spoiling your vacation. I get it, I RV for leisure too. But there aren’t a lot of options for any of us.
Sounds like a big problem seems to be unaffordable housing, and many relying on RV sites and campground for cheaper rates. If only Florida govt wanted to do anything about it.
I can understand!! They are doing their jobs and given special priority, just for doing their job that THEY signed up for. I don’t feel bad they’re away from their families etc. My husband works for a utility company as a welder. Linemen are super entitled. My husband is a welder and has to repair all their abused equipment. The linemen that use the equipment return it abused and in shambles. Brand new trucks are completely trashed. It isn’t fair that someone is treated differently because of what they choose to do for a living.
It isn’t “fair” that peoooe who we actually working and contributing to society, who are the reason why we have utilities are prioritized over old people who no longer contribute and want to whine about their privileged life being less than ideal? If I was the park owner I know who I’d want. Life is for the living, not the pampered, entitled retired person. Move aside, be grateful for what you have and hush!
You think it’s fun for the utility workers? God people are so spoiled. They are away from their families for months at a time. Too many of them have to pay they’re own way when out of town. I know we did. Great another bill to chip away at our checks. Stop complaining!
I understand Gail’s frustration with a promised site given away, but beyond that: RV parks, campgrounds, whatever, are places to park an RV. Vacationer, weekender, Full-timer, Worker, what is the difference? Workers are Full-timers, aren’t they? AND if Workers aren’t parked there, you would not have electricity, paved roads, windmills to provide the electricity for your RV or EV. Get over it. Those people make the world go round. They have given up a 9 to 5, stix n bricks life to keep us all going with what we need to enjoy our RVing. AND…if they are there for disaster recovery, should we not gladly give up our site in an effort to say thank you for coming across the country to help out? They HAVE to be there, we probably do not. We can go anywhere. And we talk about how friendly the RV community is??
Maybe campgrounds could be created specifically for traveling workers , others for leisure travelers.
Sounds like a lot of her complaints indicate that the Campground owners are not good owners. Even with increased rates, COVID vaccines widely available leading to an return to normalcy, and more people there than prior years, they aren’t doing anything with their increased revenue.
I like that you, unlike everyone else it seems, have offered a solution. Maybe not an easy one, but at least you weren’t complaining.
Perhaps campgrounds should have cheese stores.
RVtravel, well aren’t you guys a bunch of jerks for leading this story with a scowling faced worker!
Maybe he had already run into WAY to many of the self center , instant gratification snowflakes who are fouling the waters of our world and bitching about spoiling their greedy selfish lives.
THINK next time and show a reasonable photo of a much needed worker in our community.
Richard Langley
La Mesa, Ca
Construction has always been itinerant. My kid brother and I were dragged like gypsies from job to job in the ’40s and ’50’s. My stepdad was a journeyman ironworker after discharge from WWII. We lived in cheap motel cabins, skid-row hotel rooms, remodeled chicken coops offered by greedy landlords, and once in a tar-paper camp trailer. We two kids were treated like “construction camp trash” in each new school we were forced to temporarily attend.
Now the gypsy workers have RV homes and need a place to set up while on the job. This article brought back a lot of memories, not all of them good. We never felt “welcome” wherever we were, because the locals knew we were gypsy families and would soon be gone. I see that attitudes haven’t changed much, and this article shows that jealousy over places to camp is rearing its ugly head.
The only negative thing I experience with workers in the campground is the noise from his truck. He had a dodge diesel flat bed with a straight pipe for a muffler. He would leave for work at 5am every morning. The whole park heard him. One day he left came back 15 minutes later, must have forgot something. That really caused a lot of people to complain. After 6 weeks him and his crew left.
As a (recently) retired Telecom worker, I avoided being on the ‘travelling crew’, but I dealt with the issues of our teams being deployed to disaster areas. Hotel costs are a major expense with restoration teams, and in a disaster area those rooms come at a premium all for a bed. Utility firms pay per diem to their crews, and they use RVs to maximize their earnings, because an RV you own and an RV spot at a campground is often 25% the cost of staying in a hotel (and this is true across most utilities, not just telecom). Contractors make more than regular line employees, but they don’t earn a pension, 401k nor health benefits (those are often provided by the contractor), so you can’t blame them (not that you are) for working the system to their advantage. Nor can you hold it against park operators – they prefer stable, employed, professionals who don’t cause problems and pay their bills.
It’s a whole new world out there for RV’ing. We just have to keep rolling with the changes.
Waaa, waaa, waaa! Register your complaint, bad review on line, and move. There’s room for everybody, just maybe not you… here.
Exactly!!!!!!!!!!!!
Many utility contractors will book these sites and hotel/ motels as soon as they learn they won the contract and will pay a premium for them. Many utility workers, electric, gas, oil and such depend upon a large supply of mobile contractors to perform the work. Blame it mostly on industry scaling back their workforce to avoid paying the benefits of employment such as vacation, sick time, health insurance, workers compensation and the cost of laying off personal in non peak work periods. Contractors will win the contracts and usually given a window of start and finish time, often supply, manpower, weather and other issues will arrive slowing the previous jobs down and delaying release of people to other contractors. A vast majority of the mobile RV workforce will travel with their families and sometimes they will not know when they will be released to work for a new employer hundreds or a thousand miles away making it difficult to find a spot with sometimes a week or months notice.
I live near Hanford. Of the 200 ‘long term’ RVers here I would wager over half either work at Hanford or companies associated with it. Hanford workers seem to be preference over others that want to stay long term.
I was a travel nurse from 2005 until Covid. We lived in our RV from the beginning. Initially I had a hard time finding any place where we could stay for over two weeks. Then about 2007 more long term rents became very common. We always had to have a background check for any long term rentals just like you had to do when renting an apartment and had to show we had insurance on our vehicles etc. Personally I liked when the park had other long term rentals and we were usually a little separate from the short term. On the rare occasion when my husband wasn’t with me I could count on the contractors to help me out One of the proudest times of my life was shaking hands with the contractors who were my neighbors as they finished the Tacoma Narrows bridge. What a bunch of great guys and gals we have lived by. People who just worked hard to feed their families. Then aint that America. Your beef is with the RV park who did not live up to a promise
I have been around the utility industry for years. When we would contract out a job, the workers get a per diem to live and eat. Many workers share hotel rooms to keep cost down. More and more are seeing that buying a camper is cheaper than staying in hotels and going out to eat. This is exactly why I bought my camper, because it is cheaper to vacation in a camper. My trip to Hilton Head for a week with my wife with flight, hotels rental car, food and boarding our dogs was over $7000. A 21 day trip in the camper to Myrtle Beach with a spot close to the beach with fuel, site, food was $3200. I can see it!!!!
Our park is awesome and they are firm about it being a 55+ park. However, I do have some questions. Are the electrical workers all in one area or spread throughout the park? Are they loud and obnoxious?
One thing to consider about improvements not being made. Unless the park goes for a loan, with the last couple of years, they are not going to have the funds available to start upgrades. They need to get at least a year under them of near to full occupancy to possibly pay what may already be on the books from the previous 2 years of less than 100% occupancy.
If you reserved a specific spot and were told you would have that spot, you should have that spot. Did you ask the park what their reasoning was. It may very well be something you didn’t consider. At least you are not in the snow!!
I voted “Nope” because we don’t have a campground where we stay long term. The DC area campground we visit biannually (twice a year) has never been similarly overrun during any of our visits. However, I can empathize. When we visited Alaska in 2019 we stayed at a run down campground with a cool name in Delta Junction. About half the sites were occupied by utility workers who were laying fiber optic cable in the area. They certainly gave the campground a non-campground kind of feel.
Many of the utilities contractors call way ahead reserving spots for their mobile workforce. Sometimes they will pay more than the park would normally get renting to the average person. Many times the jobs do not start on time due to complications with permitting, supply issues, manpower issues and previous job being delayed for all mentioned including weather. Many of these workers come with a family and scrambling to find a campground a month or so before the job starts can be impossible especially during a high demand season. I worked for a major utility in power production and during our annual unit outages we would have several hundred additional contractors and our employees on site and many lived in their RV for months at a time. We ended up building an RV park for their use for a fee that helped everyone, we did however have the land to do it. My son contracted to the oil industry and I heard it all about motel living and them pushing up the cost, then he bought an RV.
Some of this depends on what part of the country you are referring to. Oil workers populate many parks in the northern midwest for example. The small park we go to here in Ca. sometimes has a traveling nurse staying in a trailer for at least a couple of months. Sometimes we also see windmill workers who construct and maintain wind farms. There aren’t enough of them that impact regular campers.
I delivered a trailer to West Texas from Michigan to a pipeline worker. It was a bare bones new park, no trees, open field, gravel roads and sites. We mentioned we were going to get a room before heading back to Michigan. He told us we should go at least 150 mi before stopping, as motel rates were $200. plus a night because all were filled with pipeline workers. We stopped at a small motel just to see, he was right they wanted $250. for a (normally) cheap room.
This has been going on for years in Nor Cal (one of many reasons we’ve left the State for good). Usually, a company or utility pays to lease the entire CG. With another company ready to lease on their heels. I don’t know whether it’s greed, ignorance or a skewed business model but jeeze! At least leave a few spots for those of us passing thru!
One park we workamped in had specific sites for the longterm workers. At the time it was Oil Workers. Those sites had waiting list. Every RV Park for 50 miles around had same situation. Those oil workers paid the bills and overnighter were the Gravy and Cream. The oil workers were all good people and their families came sometimes but a few traveled with the workers. We have a handful of workers in electrical or welding where we are now. We hardly see them. They go work, then come home to eat and then to bed. Again the longterm people are who pays the bills many times.
Well, the campground owners lied to you. I can certainly understand you being miffed.
Don’t give them your business next year.
Oh no! The park won’t have the business of one old couple who are just snowbirds. Florida is DEFINITELY lacking in those. Whatever shall they do?? I suppose they’ll just have to fill that spot with people who actually work and contribute to society….
I used to be one of those workers and bought an RV because I was tired of hotels or motels that companies booked you into. Some had bed bugs or were just not clean and then there was the other clients, drug dealers and hookers who brought their work home. Picking your accommodation with your own RV is much better than taking what the company provides. Blame the park management not the workers.
I work camp at an RV Resort between Gainesville and Ocala. We have many medical personnel that stay with us. They are handled just like any other camper. Unfortunately, the hospitals do not give them a lot of notice if their contract is offered, so planning way ahead is just not possible. We do our best, but “first reserved” = “first get.” We have had a lot of people call in late December to come in for January thru March. Um, it’s tourist season. We were booked solid this year except for a few days here and there.
That’s my problem. In a best case scenario I can plan a week in advance, I’m usually within a couple days.
We have a favorite little campground here in northern NV that we have been visiting for YEARS. The owner has on occasion rented long term (as in a couple of months) to road workers who are working on the nearby roads. But he always keeps several spots open for those he considers “the regulars”. We’re honored to be in that sector.
That’s wonderful. Please stay in your honored section and leave the useful, working people alone. There’s seriously nothing more annoying than old people with nothing left to contribute that what to infringe on our time with their boring stories. Keep to your own kind
With luck, we won’t run into you.
Boy what an {bleeped} I’m 74 still pay income tax , state tax and city tax who said we don’t contribute to society.
Utility workers, agricultural workers and other types of ‘temporary’ workers & companies are catching on to the mobile lifestyle of RV world. And if a campground is near such projects as infrastructure overhaul (remember, ****** just printed billions for that) or local construction or local crop harvesting, I don’t blame them for shooting for 100% occupancy for as long as they can have it. IF they do it properly, they won’t have site mix ups as above, no excuses for that. A couple months of full sites may keep them alive for another season, maybe hire some help to do the maintenance on the camp.
We have a similar but different problem where I live. There are COE parks all around us, and a particular nice one in Lakeview, Arkansas. They have about at least 10 FHU sights with 50amp service that they refuse to rent out. We’ve been camping around here for 20 plus years, and have only seen the sights being used once or twice- just one or two spots. Supposedly, according to the Camp Snoop, these spots are saved for workers. Don’t know what kind- utility, COE contractors, or whatever I guess. These best-in-class campsites sit empty year after year for no reason whatsoever. Even during the horrific ice storm of 2009, they sat empty. I’m thinking of writing the local COE and see what’s up. I just don’t understand.
Sorry to hear about your bad experience. I would go in to the campgrounds site or google and put a review in explaining what the park owners did. Wish you good luck finding a better campground next year.
Workers have been using campgrounds for years. You just haven’t been where the work was going on. Before ******* shut down our energy sector, the northwestern states had tons of workers at many many campgrounds as far back as 10yrs ago.
Get use to it people, it’s not going to get any better.
The workers I’ve seen in most parks have really nice rigs and are people trying to save a buck in the sad state this country is in,having their family along is a plus for the workers.
Worker influx could work two ways. We just made an overnight stop at a park which was overflowing with workers a year ago. This year it was nearly empty. The park owners had made it a priority to accommodate workers; then jobs were gone and there is little to bring in the vacationers. Because we expected the same clientele as the prior year, we booked to used the park much as we would a Walmart…except we knew the electric hookup would make a really cold night more comfortable.
I have a buddy who is a traveling Lineman and I can tell you that you got a couple facts wrong. The companies pay the linemen a per deim for lodging. Some just stay in a hotel each night. And some use that money to purchase a RV and rent a camping spot by the month. This is cheaper and therefore they can pocket the difference. Also some are able to have their families with them while traveling.
Contractors and working folks are no different than you and me. Given the events of the last 3 years, I believe patience and kindness will go further than bickering. So much publicity has been given to camping or RVing as many prefer, why should the working man or family not capitalize on it? Sounds to me you need to adjust your thinking, or you will be left without accomodation.
Lonnie—-I disagree with your outlook. Firstly, she isn’t bickering. She is making a very plain case as to how she was treated (not given the promised site) and how the park seems to accomodate the utility workers over campers. After all, it IS a campground! And your comment that the working man or family should be allowed to capitalize on camping is flawed.. These people are not camping, they are living there and working. These workers may not have chosen to stay here–it may have been what was provided for them by their employers, we do not know. However, all of the other people (not utility workers) who patronize this campground and who are made to feel less valued, need to bring their feelings to management and put their money where their mouth is and move somewhere else next season. These utility workers are a short-term thing….but return customers, especially if they come annually for long stays, deserve better treatment.
They deserve nothing. They’re retired. They don’t contribute to society anymore. The workers are the reason we have power. Maybe the old folks should be grateful they aren’t in a nursing home, shut up and show some respect to those who provide the power they can’t run their RV slide outs, tv and internet without. If the old people disappeared, nothing would change. Their money would go back into society to be used. If the workers disappeared, the power would go out. Learn your place and stay in it
Wow, Richard. What a rude attitude! Evidently you were not taught to respect elders who have contributed (maybe more than you will ever realize) to society before you ever arrived. Realize that someday the “shoe will be on the other foot” if you live to that age.
This is one reason I generally camp at state or federal campgrounds. Usually there is a two week maximum stay. Also I dont think they could enter into a long term relationship with a utility company or any other company. I had one bad experience in Fla outside Disney World back in the 90s. This was actually a one nighter after a long drive before we went to Camp Wilderness at Disney World for several days. Anyway we arrived mid to late afternoon and the kids wanted to get out play and burn off energy. Well the neighbor came out and said our kids were making too much noise and he couldn’t sleep. He worked night shift and slept during the days.
Gail, I understand fully your disappointment. You had been promised, by someone you thought you could trust. You believed that you had a relationship.
Workers in campgrounds do provide a guaranteed income, however, you were also guaranteed income. In my opinion, you are very right to be miffed that the site you had requested was not given to you, especially when it sat empty for 4 weeks! The campground made that decision, not the utility company. But, there should be some off-site parking for the extra vehicles—boats with trailers, personal vehicles or company vehicles—not all of them crammed onto each site. Even that small change would have likely gone a long way in making things seem less “industrial”. Perhaps a change in venue next year?
May want to consider becoming a Winter Texan – over 300 RV parks of all sizes (accommodate all sizes of RVs) and plenty of open sites in every Park. A lot cheaper than FL. But its not always as warm…
Do you think you are special? Have priority over others? I think not.
The only priority she expected was to get the site she reserved a year in advance. Giving it to the workers is not right. The worker could have staying the site she was given and wouldn’t have thought twice about it.
RV Parks are becoming apartment complexes.
I understand your pain Gail. And I understand the campground owner’s desire to make some extra money. Most of the utility companies contracting with campgrounds pay considerably more than the standard rent. Your owner is probably using that money to pay off debt incurred during the pandemic and, hopefully, banking some to make those improvements once the gravy train workers depart. What I don’t understand was the lack of consideration of the owner to at least notify you that your promised spot would be available. That was rude bordering dishonest and would be enough to have me looking around for an alternative park for next year. Alienating long term guests, especially those who provided a lot of free labor for his benefit, for short term profit is not a good business decision.
Just an FYI about Canadians coming to the USA during the fall-winter of 2020-21, it was the USA border closed to us entering for non-essential travel that kept many of us in Canada. The border opened in November of 2021 with lineups of RVs headed for warmer places.
With regards to workers using campgrounds, I guess that campground is just catching up to what many other campgrounds have been doing for years. I often see oil workers, construction workers and medical professionals using campgrounds. Makes sense to me, they can take their families with them while they are at work sites for months at a time.
As a fellow Canadian, thanks for clarifying to all! We are in the US this winter, and yes there are lots of workers in RV parks. We all need to get used to reserving as much as a year or more in advance. I am already booking 2023 sites. It is no big deal at all.
We (3 couples, 3 RVs) had made reservations 1 year in advance at a campground in New Orleans. 6 weeks prior to our arrival, they had a hurricane. The campground called us to confirm we were coming. Expecting the area to be mostly recovered by the time we got there (it was), we said yes, please keep our reservations. 1 week before arrival, we got a call saying our sites were not available because they were occupied by workers. So, we had to scramble to find another campground. This is not the utility workers fault, it is the campgrounds fault.
It seems some of the ‘campers’ are a bit snobbish. What is wrong with a contractor camping an RV Park? Where else is he/she going to park their camper. A lot of those people are on the road all the time in their employment, and as such get tired of hotel rooms and restraints. I spent 30 years traveling the country living in hotels and eating out, and boy I am totally sick of restraunts and hotels. You are on vacation, give those folks a break. Be nice to them and you might be surprised if you run into a problem that they wouldn’t help you out.
I think maybe you missed the point. For one, after assurance repeatedly that their site was reserved for them, it was not only NOT reserved for them when they got there, but held empty and eventually given to the electric company workers. Put yourself in their shoes. You reserve a specific site a year out, check on it over and over as time leads up to your arrival being assured it was reserved for you, then the day you arrive it is not reserved for you, held empty for four weeks, then you find out why- because a better buck was coming. That’s ethically wrong on the campground’s part. It wasn’t about the electric company workers staying there, it was about the integrity of the campground.
Ethically wrong?? If you are selling an item and one person says I’ll pay you $10 because I want to enjoy it, and another says I’ll pay you $1000 because I need the item to live, work and help keep society flowing, it would be ethically wrong to sell it for more to the one who needs it than to accept less from someone who just casually desires it?
I wanted to book a spot in a campground (State Park) in Tennessee that I had heard about. When I tried to get a reservation, the park is closed for the next two seasons while a state highway is being re surfaced.
My son is one of those utility workers. He used to rent an apartment that he returned to on the weekends and stayed in a hotel during the week. He paid rent for an apartment that he was there about 8 or 10 days a month, and would have to drive hours to get there. He decided to purchase an rv, he is single, and finds an rv park near his current work site. Sometimes he is in a place for a few weeks, sometimes for a year or more. He doesn’t have to drive hours when he is exhausted and gets to sleep in his own bed each night. He doesn’t have to pack and drive to a hotel the day before his next work day. His diet is improved because he cooks his dinner instead of restaurant meals. He asked his employer to pay his lot rent instead of his hotel bill and they agreed. He is the only one on his crew to do this, the others are married with working wives. He doesn’t ask to be treated better than any others in the park. He is a supervisor and lineman (dangerous work) for a crew that builds high tension power substations. You are happy to see him after a storm has hit your area. His quality of life is much better this way.
Thank your son for all of us who have sense and APPRECIATE power at the touch of a button. I’d much rather host him than some entitled snowbirds that dint contribute to society anymore. His work is dangerous and clearly not appreciated enough but some of us do value them. I know I couldn’t do his job.
We have specific places we go to for a specific reason- dog trials. Only stayed in a RV park in 20 years -2 times.
Pertaining to Gail Marsh’s “venting,” there isn’t really any difference between venting and whining (Gail, no offense intended). And admittedly, most adults whine at one time or another.
And even if there were a “pity party,” I wouldn’t offer any because I, as a resident of Florida, have my own pet peeve. I cannot camp in my home state (even before COVID) during the prime camping months when the summer heat and humidity make camping downright miserable. And it is not because Florida is inundated with workers. It is difficult for me because campsites are gobbled up by non-residents who love their State of residence…..except it is not so lovable when weather conditions turn unpleasant and the snow shovel becomes the most used implement. I do not feel resentment toward so-called “snowbirds.” All I am saying is that anyone who crowds into Florida (or any southern State) in the winter should be happy they have a campsite even if it is not the site they preferred. That’s just the way it is.
Well said!
Totally agree! It really annoys me that our county parks allow out of State visitors 6 month stays. Our taxes pay in part for those parks yet we cannot get a site from Dec to May. No fair!
Pity party
My, my, my… can you name one of the indigenous peoples that lived where you do now, before the Europeans came? There are only two ‘actual tribes’ left in Fla…..
X2
Pity party
Echoed here in AZ, Carl. You are much more polite about it, however. I understand why snowbirds want to winter here. But they fail to respect how drastically our lives are changed for their comfort and then can’t fathom why we’re not as gracious as they seem to feel we should be. We’re not on vacation. We live here, all year. My suburban neighborhood is roughly 60% seasonal visitors; lots sold to RV owners sit empty April-Sept and in October we’re turned on our ear by seniors on perpetual Spring Break. We could live elsewhere, but then who would maintain their resort life while they’re escaping the heat?
I’ve seen something similar not to extreme you’re writing about though. What I have noticed is that the transient workers who are coming and going are bringing their families with them. I think the RV over the hotel allows this. I like the idea too. Having spent 30 years actively serving in the military (now retired for almost 5) I remember too well all the times I was away from my family and all the things I missed (birthdays, holidays, anniversaries). I’m happy to see these families that can stay together while they are assigned to jobs away from their homes.
I will say though that I don’t enjoy crowded RV Parks! Can’t wait for our next place in the mountains of NC.
We stay at a very small campground in AL when we visit family and often when we pull in, the workers are there. It’s a fairly primitive campground and pretty old, no wi-fi, poor reception, and no facilities, and only half the sites are working. The next closest campground is 45 minutes away. So, we just live with it. We consider ourselves lucky that they know us and try to keep a site open for us.