The last scheduled destination for us in 2007 was Livingston, Texas, home of the Escapees RV Club headquarters and Rainbow’s End RV Park. We arrived at Rainbow’s End on Tuesday, October 23rd. When planning to become full time RV’ers, we made a decision to relinquish our California residency and find a more tax friendly state to call “home”. Since we wouldn’t be living in any one place permanently, we were free to become residents of any state we wanted to. Texas is a full-time RV’er friendly state. There is no state income tax, and vehicle registration is a fraction of what you pay in California. Escapees publishes a pamphlet called “How to Become a Texan” that walks you through the necessary steps, including instructions on where to go in Livingston to change your drivers license, register your vehicles, and register to vote. In addition to handling our residency tasks, we wanted to come to Livingston and Rainbow’s End to see the mail service operation we have been using for a number of months. It is quite impressive; we took a tour of the facility, and it is like a small post office – in fact, the postal service gave Rainbow’s End their own zip code due to the volume of mail they receive.
The park sits on 140 acres, amidst pine trees and other abundant greenery. The acreage is divided up into areas for travelers (like us); permanent RV residents who have purchased a lot and park their RV on it; and parcels of land sold only to Escapee club members where dwellings other than RV’s have been built (like small cabins or modulars). The street we are parked on is called “Dream Catcher”, cool, huh? All the amenities are here – WI-FI, laundry rooms, a Club House, an Activity Center, a swimming pool, DVD/Video lending library, books & magazine library, and scheduled activities including tours of the grounds, social get togethers, dinners, breakfasts, music, games, yoga, and tai chi, just to name what I can remember off the top of my head.
I think the most wonderful thing offered by Escapees, and located here at Rainbow’s End, is the Care Center, a nonprofit adult day care and residency program designed for RV’ers whose travels are permanently ended because of age or temporarily interrupted because of an illness. A participant's RV is parked on a Care Center site. Personal and health care is available through a professional staff on weekdays at the center, and each evening, participants return to their own RV with the security of knowing someone is within call if needed. The full program is $800 a month for a single person and $900 a month if you have a caregiver. This fee includes all meals for both, two loads of laundry per week, and transportation to medical appointments and shopping trips. Although this does not help someone who needs 24 hour care (you go home to your RV each night), it is still a heck of a deal! I hope we’ll never need to use these services, but if we do, it’s a comfort to know they are available.
We plan to stay here through November to get our residency changed and to get some maintenance work done on our 5th wheel. We haven’t decided where we will go come December, but we will definitely be in the Southwest somewhere, possibly back in the Albuquerque area to take advantage of nearby skiing.
Next Stop: Sacramento for Thanksgiving week to visit with family!
The park sits on 140 acres, amidst pine trees and other abundant greenery. The acreage is divided up into areas for travelers (like us); permanent RV residents who have purchased a lot and park their RV on it; and parcels of land sold only to Escapee club members where dwellings other than RV’s have been built (like small cabins or modulars). The street we are parked on is called “Dream Catcher”, cool, huh? All the amenities are here – WI-FI, laundry rooms, a Club House, an Activity Center, a swimming pool, DVD/Video lending library, books & magazine library, and scheduled activities including tours of the grounds, social get togethers, dinners, breakfasts, music, games, yoga, and tai chi, just to name what I can remember off the top of my head.
I think the most wonderful thing offered by Escapees, and located here at Rainbow’s End, is the Care Center, a nonprofit adult day care and residency program designed for RV’ers whose travels are permanently ended because of age or temporarily interrupted because of an illness. A participant's RV is parked on a Care Center site. Personal and health care is available through a professional staff on weekdays at the center, and each evening, participants return to their own RV with the security of knowing someone is within call if needed. The full program is $800 a month for a single person and $900 a month if you have a caregiver. This fee includes all meals for both, two loads of laundry per week, and transportation to medical appointments and shopping trips. Although this does not help someone who needs 24 hour care (you go home to your RV each night), it is still a heck of a deal! I hope we’ll never need to use these services, but if we do, it’s a comfort to know they are available.
We plan to stay here through November to get our residency changed and to get some maintenance work done on our 5th wheel. We haven’t decided where we will go come December, but we will definitely be in the Southwest somewhere, possibly back in the Albuquerque area to take advantage of nearby skiing.
Next Stop: Sacramento for Thanksgiving week to visit with family!
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