We just wrapped up our 2023/2024 winter season at our co-op lot in Benson, Arizona at SKP Saguaro. We became lifetime leaseholders at this Escapees park back in 2018, intending it to be our winter nomadic port.
Since we got our lot, Benson is now where our vintage bus Zephyr lives. Usually in the free storage area while our lot is in the rental pool. We then use our camper van to get across country from wherever we leave our boat on the east coast.
However, reality hasn’t lived up to our original intentions of spending most winters there.
Between a little pandemic and some active hurricane seasons, we’ve only managed to get back every other year.
Nevertheless, we always do love our time in Benson. Spending time in the beautiful desert, exploring southeast Arizona, spreading out and of course living back aboard Zephyr.
We’ve gotten a lot of questions about SKP Saguaro and our lease there. So before we headed back to Florida a few weeks ago, we filmed a little overview.
The video going over the amenities, why we became leaseholders, costs to stay as a guest, process to become a leaseholder and the ongoing costs.
Here’s the video we just released:
If you’d like this information in a written format, I’ll refer you back to our original post when we first got our lease. I’ve also upkeep the post over the years keep tracking of the ongoing costs from year to year (M&Os and assessments):
We Bought a House!! Our Long Term RVing Plans at SKP Saguaro Co-Op in Benson, AZ
I’ll be back over the coming weeks with a re-cap of our time in Benson this season (including a video on the things we did around the area) and our fun adventures back across to Florida.
For now, we just arrived back to Y-Not in Sanford, FL keeping just miles ahead of the arctic blast. We have been busily getting moved back to boat life.
Hope the start of 2024 is off to a great beginning for you too!
How much do you pay per year for your lease?
There is no annual fee for the lease – it’s a one time purchase. There’s just the mentioned ongoing costs (M&Os, assessments and property tax – which we’ve documented the costs in the linked post).
Hi Chris, Cherie and Kiki, Very much enjoyed the tour of your RV home in Arizona. How nice to be back with Zephyr again and to have such a nice work space.
Thanks for this video. Reminds me how great being an Escapee/xcaper is! So glad that you got to have some time with Zephyr!
We get the draw of the Southwest, and the wonderful relationships of being Escapees COOP members/leaseholders. (We have a Mobile Home and RV Parking site in the Yuma Foothills for the Southwest. And we’re leaseholders in the Pacific Northwest at Evergreen COHO CO-OP. We too had Covid impact of our planned travels/usage:)! We’re on a bit of a traveling pause now, actually sold our Coach, for an opportunity to help Family Members in San Diego. So we’ve adapted to back and forth to Yuma Foothills, and our second home in San Diego. (South Dakota Domicile, so 6 months out of California, remains a requirement. But close enough to runover San Diego as needed:)!). Our current thinking is to add a Fiver to Evergreen, and fly in for 3-4 weeks stays at a time. When the time is right, we anticipate jumping back into another ‘rig’ of some kind… I share all of this, because one key message I pulled out of your Saguaro update – is how important it is to remain flexible to changes. Life, pandemics, and unforeseen draws from different directions:)! No question, we are all lucky/blessed. You two remain safe, and ongoing THANKS for what you do… Best – Smitty
Great video, Jam packed with good info! Time to reconsider Escapees membership…Thanks