Just down the road from where we are staying is the Jojoba Hills SKP RV Resort, one of the “co-op” RV parks associated with the Escapees RV Club. Staying there was not an option for us as non-owners are limited to 28 days per year, which ran a little short of the 4 months we needed. Nevertheless, we were intrigued by the co-op concept and were very curious to see what kind of lifestyle was offered by that park. So we called up and scheduled a tour.
We were fortunate to be guided by Don, an 80-something owner who was one of the original group that built the park about 25 years ago. The basic idea of the co-op is that you deposit $30,000 to get a site and that $30,000 is returned when you leave. It is more of a security deposit than an investment. The $30K lets you choose from the small number of available sites (of 283 total) and lets you move to a more appealing site, based on seniority, when one becomes available. It is a 55+ park, meaning than at least one owner of the site must be over 55 and that visits by youngsters are limited to 2 weeks. You are not permitted to have guests living on your site when you are absent, which is a deal-breaker for us as we would sometimes need to have a dog-sitter when we go on vacations.
Between those restrictive rules and the location in southern California (too far from the grandkids), we weren’t seriously considering buying in. But we were very interested in seeing the place. Our guide gave us a wonderful tour and we can see why residents love the place. It has great amenities, including a great community center building that houses the best lending library we have seen anywhere, a sewing room that is large enough for 10 or more, a gym, a billiards room, a great swimming pool and hot tub and, nearby, tennis courts, pickle ball courts, a shooting range and several ponds. There is also a superb woodworking shop (with some very talented woodworkers) and – this is unique – an RV repair shop stocked with heavy jacks, welding tools and parts.
And, like Livingston, there was a deep sense of community. Everyone seemed to like each other. The women in the sewing room were working together on making quilts. The landscaping was all done very professionally with resident labor. They have really carved out a nice place for themselves.
We also learned that our park – which can be seen in the valley below Jojoba Hills – was founded after a huge flood in 1992 that wiped out the previous park. It is such a dry climate that flooding seems impossible, but if a flood was to happen anywhere it would happen down in that valley.
Rancho California as seen from Jojoba Hills
Viagra Falls
Upper Pond
Alligator Pond
Upper Pond
Boy Panning for Gold
View over the pond
Jett in the lending library
Billiards room
Pool
Function hall
Outside community center
The “infinity” view from the pool
In the RV repair shop
Sewing room