Newbie-planning for the future

[Scycle]

Hello, as the title states we are planning to RV around the country when we retire (2 yrs) or sooner if we get the RV. Just purchased a truck and going with 5th wheel, but we live in the country with no one to watch the house while we are gone. Our thought is we would like a home base, much smaller and maybe in a community where there are people who will keep an eye on things. We would like a place to go for the winter where we have stuff from our house, have a small garden, a place to regroup and more tools to repair or upgrade RV. We may also travel the warmer part of the country during that time then head north in the spring to travel and visit family. Family is mostly northeast, so we have been searching somewhat close like SC, TN and maybe FL but the problem I'm finding is these 55+ communities are very expensive to purchase a home, even a small one. These places that start in the mid 150K price are out of our league not including HOA fees, and just not practical to leave something that expensive sitting for months at a time. The other option is mobile home parks that seem more reasonable, but most are packed in like sardines with little greenery around and some areas like SC don't have many to choose from. I'd appreciate any advice from experience and suggestions that anyone has. Thank you and hope to see you out there someday.