Gas prices keeping RVers in Texas
First-time RV travelers, baby boomers discover Port Aransas

Motorhome-ward bound STAFF DAN PARKER Nick Neuert, 18, of Frisco, walks to his family's recreational vehicle at Pioneer RV Resort in Port Aransas after riding some waves at the nearby beach on Friday, Aug. 4. Many visitors to Port Aransas RV parks this time of year are families who don't want to travel far for their summer vacations.

BY DAN PARKER SOUTH JETTY

Winter used to be the only time of year that recreational vehicle parks in Port Aransas filled to capacity.

Not any more.

Port Aransas RV parks in recent summers have found themselves packed with motorhomes, fifth-wheels and other RVs, and the trend has continued this year, according to some RV park owners and managers.

Pioneer RV Resort on State Hwy. 361 saw all 380 of its spaces filled last weekend.

When Ken Gillespie bought the 145-space Tropic Island Resort RV park in Port Aransas five years ago, about 35 RVs generally would occupy the park at any given time during the summer. Today, he said, that number is more like 100 or 120, and it's not unusual for the park to fill up completely.

Umpteen RVs Recreational vehicles fill Pioneer RV Resort in Port Aransas on Sunday, Aug. 6. Rising gas prices are keeping RVers closer to home. Baby-boomers also are joining the RV crowds, many of them STAFF DAN PARKER first time RV travelers. As a result RV parks in Port Aransas have had higher than normal occupancy rates during the summer months.

A generally strong economy and growth in San Antonio and Austin have been largely responsible for the big summertime RV turnout, said Greg Smith, part-owner of Pioneer.

"Port Aransas is their beach of choice," Smith said.

Austin particularly has come on strong in the last few years, Smith said. When Pioneer RV Resort opened in 1996, there was one RV visitor from Austin for every four from San Antonio, Smith said. Today, it's more like three from Austin for every four from San Antonio, he estimated.

Instead of keeping people away, high gas prices actually may have brought more RVs to town, said Mary Humphries, manager of Island RV Resort. Skyrocketing gas prices have prompted many RV-owning Texans to take their vacations in places like Port Aransas rather than drive all the way to other states, Humphries said.

Kicked back Hector and Sherryl Valderaz of Victoria relax in the shade next to their travel trailer at Island RV Resort in Port Aransas.

During winter, Port Aransas RV parks fill up with residents of northern states seeking relief from the harsh winters that plague that part of the country every year. But in summer, Texans take over. At least half of the visitors at Island RV Resort last week were Texas residents, Humphries said.

Among the hundreds of RVers visiting Pioneer RV Resort last week were San Antonio residents Jeff and Shelly Jones and their daughters, Elysse, 15, and Amanda, 18.

Jeff Jones, who owns a foam fabricating business, said they have spent many long weekends in Port Aransas most summers since 1998. They always have made the trips in an RV, and economy is one reason. Staying in an RV park costs only about $300 a month plus electricity

- far less than what a condominium would cost for that period of time, Jeff Jones said.

Also, in an RV, "you get to sleep in your own bed," he said.

More and more, families are becoming RVers during the summer, with moms and dads at the wheel and kids riding in the back, said Gillespie, owner of Tropic Island Resort.

"They're getting younger and younger," Gillespie said. "They want to leave an RV in town and have a place to visit on weekends."

Baby boomers Hector and Sherryl Valderaz of Victoria have kept their 30-foot travel trailer at a Port Aransas RV park for two months each of the past two summers. On weekdays, she works as a secretary in Victoria and he works as a railroad engineer out of Corpus Christi and San Antonio. The Valderazes visit the trailer on

weekends with one or both of their children, Ashley, 17, and Lucas, 13. Their fun is simple. Often, it's just hanging out at the trailer and swimming at the park's pool.

Vacationing so close to home is convenient and, Sherryl Valderaz said, an RV park offers something that Winter Texans have singled out for years as one of the main reasons they like the RV lifestyle.

"You meet so many different people," Sherryl Valderaz said. "Every weekend, there are new people coming in. ... You meet new people all the time, and you make friends."