Category Archives: Move

Dauphin Island is for the Dogs


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Our most recent destination was yet another remote beach location off the gulf coast of Alabama, Dauphin Island. This was a small somewhat run down island which was obviously once a booming vacation destination but now, at least in January, is primarily a place for oil workers and old folks that want to spend their golden years and modest retirement savings fishing and worshiping. The entrance to the island was spectacular and intimidating when pulling the trailer.

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After checking in at the Dauphin Island Park Camping Area, and before we even got set up we were greeted by a friendly although quite a bit our senior fellow snowbirder who was intrigued by our Colorado license plates. After explaining how and why we were here, we were informed of the RV park bingo schedule, the locations of the fish cleaning station, the general store and each Church broken down by denomination. What else could we need to know?

No golf courses, hipster bars or $13 vegan sandwiches here. Just a somewhat run down camping area, a bunch of dilapidated, hurricane whipped houses and a dog-pee drenched beach with endless views of off shore oil and gas rigs. Or as Hank and Rufus like to call it “heaven on earth”!

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Yes, once again we found ourselves on a remote island miles from a city. To be honest, after months of island hopping, the excitement of an empty beach in cool weather has somewhat dulled for us. After a week in the exciting vacation town of Sea Side/Grayton Beach and the impressive Florida State Park network, we were probably a little let down by this location and what little there was to do. I can’t say that we didn’t see this coming. We had done plenty of research and we knew exactly where we were going and what it had to offer and didn’t.

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Truth be told, Hank and Rufus lobbied hard and picked this island, not Robin and me. While I am not about to subject my dogs to the psychological abuse of having an owner that writes blogs as the pet, I can honestly say that we probably would not have picked this location if not for their enthusiastic input. Although they primarily communicate their preference via Robin’s subconscious, their opinion is real, and satisfying their needs (sometimes above our own) is really no different than if we had kids. Trust me when I say, if they are not happy, we are not happy.

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In fact, some of the most fun and social locations for us, Charlotte, Cedar Key and Grayton Beach were not particularly great for the boys. The town of Cedar Key was very dog friendly but the hiking access that we had directly from the RV park was not ideal and nor was the amount of time we spent “out” and them “in”.

Although we knew that there might not be much night life for us humans, we compromised and chose the next place, Three Rivers State Park, primarily for the dogs. We then alternated back to the humans playground of Grayton Beach. As we mentioned in our previous blog, this was one of the most pristine beaches we have ever been but unfortunately, no dogs allowed.

As we walked every day toward the dog allowed dunes area at Grayton Beach, Hank would always take the right-hand turn toward the beach access trail and by the large NO DOGS ALLOWED sign. He would look back at us over his shoulder and the fully extended retractable leash as we explained that the state of Florida does not allow dogs on the beach even when it is in the middle of winter and even when no one else is around. Although he knew exactly what we were saying he completed rejected the law based on premise and he usually hiked is leg as he walked back away from the beach and past that sign. We then lead him to the “dog friendly” hiking area where we would spend half of our walk pulling sand spur thorns out of his paws.

After eleven days at Grayton, the dogs had been patient but we were going somewhere primarily for them and not for us. Dauphin Island met their needs nicely. The large beach was private to the campground and off leash friendly. We rarely saw other people as the weather was a bit cool for most. There was plenty of dead jellyfish to lick as well as dog poops and pees to smell and do everywhere!

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There was also a network of swamp trails and a bird sanctuary that was absolutely perfect for dogs. Our RV site also had a pretty nice “yard” for lounging and napping. Overall we had a blast, probably similar to how parents say they enjoy places like Disney World. You can say all you want that it is fun for adults too, but lets face it, if you didn’t have kids you wouldn’t go within a 50 miles of that place. That is about how I would describe Dauphin Island for us during this week long winter visit.

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One of our favorite activities in a new town is to seek out the local bars and restaurants. During our week at Dauphin Island we ate out four times. Although I won’t go into great detail about each location, what I can say is that the Chevron and Grill was probably the best meal we had out and the name is exactly what you think it is. That should tell you quite a bit about the Dauphin Island restaurant scene overall.  JT’s Sunset Grill was OK but like I said, probably not better than the gas station food around the corner with a similar menu. There was really nothing wrong with our lunch at Barnacle Bills and I think that is a complete and fair review of the place. Islander’s Restaurant and Bar was a somewhat nicer beach side atmosphere and bar but with horrendous food. The calamari appetizer we ordered may go down as one of the worst dishes I have ever been served at a restaurant. Maybe at some point we will start posting actual Yelp Reviews but right now keeping up with this blog is all I have. Sorry Dauphin Island, Alabama, I don’t mean to be so critical, but from what we saw, restaurants are not your thing.

We also went to check out the bar scene at The Pelican Pub but it was also not our speed and one drink was more than enough. The bar was on the water and it looked nice enough but before we had completed our order we were ready for the check. No music whatsoever and all bar TV’s were locked on Fox News with the volume up loud. Most of the women had voices deeper than mine and the tipsy locals propped up on bar stools started most conversation with the always disputable Alabama, drawl proclamation “I am not a racist but….”. The outdated bar and décor matched the opinions being openly expressed and this was no place for a couple of Colorado hippies seeking micro brews.  I always wondered why some people think that only degenerates drink at bars. I guess that is because in some places it is true and we often forget that Colorado is not representative of the entire country. We decided to do our eating and drinking at the trailer for the rest of the week and once again that decisions was quite satisfying to the dogs and our stomachs.

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Although my overall opinion of the island and people is not particularly high, there was plenty of nature to see and we visited the local Sea Lab Estuarium and Fort Gaines historic site; both were enjoyable but nothing to blog home about.

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There was also a Mobile Bay Ferry that transported cars on and off the island to a port that was right beside the campground. We did not ride on this ferry as it was closed to RV’s when we had planned to cross upon arrival. The port was fairly busy transporting cars as well as ships traveling back and forth to the oil rigs. Robin and I did have regular competitions to see if we could correctly name the boat that was going by based on the engine sound filling our trailer. The engine sound of Mr. Ethan became easily discernible after a few days.

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These were all interesting considering where we were and considering what little else there was to do, but overall, I would not recommend making a trip based on any of these attractions. In all fairness this is a pretty place and I’ll bet it’s a different situation in the summer when the water is warm and the dolphins are out to be seen.  I hope the tone of this blog was not too harsh. We are beyond lucky to live this island life and we appreciate these magnificent places even when the attached towns leave something to be desired.

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So in summary, when traveling as a family sometimes compromise has to be made and the needs of all family members have to be considered. Even when a location is not exactly paradise for a golf obsessed snowbirder in his thirties, I can be just as happy watching my tennis ball obsessed eleven year old dog do his thing and have the time of his life on an island made for a dog. 

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Living Life on Vacation

Written By: Jeremy

After leaving our wonderful social holiday spot at Cedar Key, Florida, Robin and I both needed to slow down and get some work done. We decided to ring in the New Year at Three Rivers State Park. It was a typical State Park setup with 50 Amp sites with water only, no sewer.

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The bath house was close by and satisfactory. Overall it seemed like a great park with the exception that it rained and was cold and cloudy all seven days we were there. We managed to get out each day to walk the dogs but other than that it was indoor time, lots of reading, DirecTV and even some Wii Golf.

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In some locations you can just head out and hit the town but here, in the nearest town of Sneeds, the coolest place was a farm and feed store. I am not really being completely sarcastic, I could spend all day in one of these places.

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The weather did not seem to deter the duck hunting that started each morning at 6am sharp. I have never duck hunted but I would not have guessed that the average duck requires 6-8 shots from a semi-automatic shotgun to take down. Apparently it does. Or I guess you shoot 6-8 at a time. Probably why we had a pretty nice flock of colorful ducks huddled close to the State Park boat dock most days.

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After a wet and cool week we packed up and headed to a spot that had been recommended, Grayton Beach State Park near Destin. We spent 12 nights here and these would be our last days in the state of Florida. This was a cool place and our campsite backed up to a salt marsh.

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Once again, our only complaint is, that of the 12 days, we only had sun for two. In fact, for people coming from Denver’s 300 days of sun per year, we have struggled with almost a month straight of clouds and rain as we passed through The Sunshine State.

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I guess we should be disappointed that our vacation was ruined and we did not get a chance to do any of the biking, canoeing or beachcombing we had hoped! But then, we have to remind ourselves that unfortunately we aren’t on vacation. We just happen to live in these different vacation places, and sometimes it does rain, or snow, or generally suck for a month or two out of a year.  As long as we remind ourselves that we are not on vacation, then we don’t get too discouraged as we pull away from an undoubtedly cool state park that we primarily experienced from our rainy office window as we pounded out 40 hour work weeks. At least our dog walks never get routine. Looking back at some of these photos, it is hard to remember that they were mostly taken over only a couple of nice days.

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Unlike Three Rivers State Park, our new location, Grayton Beach, was definitely a vacation town, There was plenty to do and this place had a hardy appetite for our money. Unlike previous vacation mecca’s like Myrtle Beach, that have block after block of beach stores where nothing cost more than $5 dollars, this place’s tee-shirt shops are called “outfitters” and the tee shirts cost $50. I am sure you know the kind of place.

The sunrise was a main event if we were up before 7:00 am and it wasn’t raining.

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It was funny how our big blue F-250 diesel with giant mutt heads hanging out the windows would stick out in a parking lot full of white SUV’s with matching white Scottish Terriers on board. I was happy to find a vegan/vegetarian food truck (airstream) and I eagerly ordered a vegetarian sandwich on seed bread. It was as good as a cucumber and tomato sandwich gets, which is not $12.95 good.

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This was definitely the off-season, and most of the eclectic bar’s and restaurants had an off-season feel to them.

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Typical packed hipster bars like The Red Bar were only half packed and they had quite a few white-hairs among the hipsters looking for tables, a bite to eat or some live music.

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We read some things online about how much the local establishments and service people hate this time of year, when all of the old folks ascend from the trailer park or winter condo looking for early bird specials and two for ones. We couldn’t exactly figure out why the service staff everywhere we went seemed to also dislike us. We aren’t those retired white haired snowbirders looking for the early bird! We work and are young and only some of our hair is white. And when we go out for dinner at 4:30 pm we are looking for happy hour deals not early bird specials! Why do they roll their eyes at us when we make them recalculate the bill because they forgot to take 50 cents off of the beer prices? We aren’t those people they hate! The real problem is that these kids now a’days don’t even understand the value of a dollar.

Um… on second thought I guess we are those people. (RVL #9): Just because we live on vacation, we can’t always spend like we are on vacation. Likewise, I guess we should not expect to be treated like we are on vacation either.   If nothing else, it explains that sour, poop under their nose, look of general disdain that we see on the face of so many of our fellow snowbirders as we battle for elbow room and half price shrimp nachos.

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Oh, well, I celebrated a very happy birthday in Grayton Beach and we generally had a good time. Although dogs are not allowed on the beach here, there was a good dune area with dog friendly hiking.

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We also bought a screen room for our trailer and that was a nice addition for bad weather days. Mostly it was just a nice place that we could trash without making our camp site look like a complete mess.

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In any event, and in any weather it is good to remember the beauty in every place and weather condition.

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So long Florida it was fun, but we are heading West.


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There is Something About Cedar Key

Written By: Jeremy and Robin

This year, our first holiday season on the road we decided that Cedar Key, Florida sounded like a good place spend a couple of weeks. We had previously joined an online group of other full timing “nomads” and this grouped organized a gathering at Sunset Isle RV park.

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At first we were a little surprised to pull in and see what looked like a pin hole that I had to back the trailer into. The usual group of fellow travelers immediately ascended onto the scene to offer assistance. We could tell instantly that this park was different than any we had ever been. Parking was actually a breeze with the helpfulness of our experienced neighbors and new friends. Once we got in we realized we had a gem of spot tucked away in the back corner. Our site backs up to the salt marsh and we even have access to a shared doc area and crab cage.

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For good reason, the sunsets are the claim to fame of Cedar Key. Night after night our group of new friends would gather on the docks or at the Tiki Bar next door to see what mother nature had in store and to share a drink and swap stories with a unique group of fellow Nomads.

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We had a great mix of experienced road warriors and quite a few others that were newly living on the road just like us. After quite a few weeks of island hoping all on our own, our social calendar was suddenly full of happy hours, trips to wineries, potlucks, breakfasts and nights on the town.

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The town of Cedar Key, Florida is charming and we got an opportunity to stock up on fresh veggies and local seafood bought along the road. The restaurants (and most things around town) are causal, quaint, quirky, and colorful – Perfect for our taste.

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It is also one of the most dog-friendly towns we have been so far. They seem to be treated a little more like friends than pets. No leash laws and plenty of indoor establishments (even bars and restaurants) that allow well-behaved dogs inside. The locals find all kinds of ways to bring them along for the ride.

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At our RV park, an onsite chicken coup supplies the breakfast cafe with fresh eggs and we even participated in a Christmas day potluck for all of us on the road for the holiday.

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A community fire pit burns all day and night and an interesting conversation or new friend can be found about any time you stop by to warm up. Best of all, you never had to wonder if you were welcome. Pulling up a chair or striking up a conversation with a fellow traveler always seems natural and easy at this place.

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There was wildlife to be seen and photographed everywhere. Unfortunately we didn’t get any good shots of the Wild Hogs and Eagles that we saw while hiking but the flock of white pelicans were pretty cool.

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Although the sunsets and wildlife are the claim to fame, the local musical talent and all around unique gathering of friendly, colorful, diverse and interesting people are what made this place like no other. Maybe in the world. On any given night live bluegrass, country, gospel, or folk/rock could be found either at the clubhouse or at an informal gathering around a campfire, or a small venue in town. Some of the locals that winter here are joined by anyone that is carrying an instrument or that can carry a tune. The result is something special as is everything else about Sunset Isle RV park in Cedar Key, Florida. The experience is something we consider ourselves lucky to have been in a time and place to experience. I would try to explain better but I can’t.

RV Lesson #8: Some experiences on the road can’t be captured or recreated in a blog. You just have to live them and learn to appreciate the gift found in every present moment, unique location, and colorful personality.

As we get set to leave we are sad to say goodbye to the new friends and place that we feel like we have known forever. At the same time we are happy to have connected with a group that we are sure we will see again – either here, or wherever the road takes us.

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The Island of Newly-weds and Nearly-deads

Written By: Robin

Here is the story and pictures of our trip to Jekyll Island, GA.

Our first outing to one of the local establishments helped us to better understand the current story of beautiful Jekyll Island.  As we sat by the water and filled our tummies with local seafood and brew, we chatted up the “rah” bartender and got the scoop.  Her description was “the island of newly-weds and nearly-deads”!  After we stopped laughing she proceeded to tell us about the busy-season full of young couples getting married in the gorgeous historic district and how beautiful and prosperous the island is during the spring, summer and fall.

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With temperatures in the high 60’s and mostly sunny days during our stay in early December, we found it to beautiful in the winter too.  That being said, we had noticed a different feel to this island but couldn’t quite put our finger on it…until we heard her description and realized that we were the closest thing to newlyweds that we had seen there so far (and we have been married for over 11 years!)  It helped to explain the strange looks we were getting.

We heard all of the stories about how this little island used to thrive for many other reasons, including their old convention center where many conferences were held.  Apparently over the last 20 years many factors, including the economy and the creation of an enormous Convention Center in Savannah have taken a toll on the island, and contributed to the many closed down hotels and shops we noticed as we drove in.  We thought it was just because it was “off-season”, but apparently this little gem is in a state of transition.  In the last few years they have built a new state-of-the-art Convention Center, several new swanky hotels are being built and some old ones renovated.  I heard from several locals throughout the week that they are “coming back”. From the looks of it, they are indeed.

The great news for us was the ability to score a nice RV site for the week, and some of the best golf prices we have experienced so far.  To our surprise in early December, the local golf courses are well-maintained, nicely designed, fairly empty and super cheap!  I don’t think we paid over $15.00 per person for 18 holes with a cart!  We played a very unique nine-hole course that has been around for over 70 years and had a mini history lesson on several holes.

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Although it was hard to resist golf every day, we also took some time out to explore the island a little.  Driftwood Beach became one of our daily dog walks.  A relaxing a beautiful setting to watch the shrimp boats at work, listen to the waves and let the dogs explore.  IMG_3215IMG_3286IMG_3233 IMG_3241 IMG_3236

There were probably many things to do that we didn’t take advantage of this time around, like visiting the city of Brunswick which was just over the bridge.  After hearing about all of the plans on the island to revive it to a bustling resort, we decided to enjoy the slow, relaxing pace that was currently the norm this time of year, without the all those newly-weds!

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They joke about the “nearly-deads”, but it struck me that this lifestyle might be exactly what makes it really only a joke.  Yes, the median age of the island seemed to be around 70, and yes sometimes driving 3 miles takes 15 minutes because you are behind the golf-carts that seem to replace cars here, but no one here seemed nearly-dead to me.  There was no shortage of 70+ year olds walking the golf course, riding bikes and hiking around.   In fact we met a delightfully lively couple at the car rental/mini-golf/pizza place who was busy planning their 65th wedding anniversary!  I understand the desire to bring more business to the island, but hopefully they won’t lose the serenity that keeps even the oldest residents young at heart!

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Living in My Dream Home (Located In My In-Law’s Driveway!)

Written by: Jeremy

We have just completed a long and fun visit with our families in the Midwest and we are currently making our way South! We are set up in the Carolinas and Atlantic coast for a spell and then we are going to do some beach hopping this winter along the Gulf Coast. If nothing else, I assume our blog photos and travel tales are going to be getting better in the upcoming weeks and months. Hopefully my golf game as well. Stay tuned.

I have to admit that much of our dreams and aspirations about full timing in an RV revolved around idealistic thoughts of having a mobile home/office on the beach or near a desert golf resort; or working from a national forest and then spending weekends and evenings hiking with the dogs and playing golf or volunteering in a different warm or secluded vacation spot every week.

IMG_2573However, two months in, we have primarily been parked at less than thrilling urban RV parks or even our relative’s rural driveway’s as we meander across the Midwest carrying on with fairly busy work schedules during the days. Although our dreams usually consisted of more exotic destinations, we soon considered and now have experienced what a unique and fun opportunity we have to visit family while living in an RV.

From our home in Colorado, we would spend a week traveling for visits and we would alternate which family we would visit each year. Other than random weekends, weddings, and funerals, that is the extent of time that we have to spend with the people we love and grew up with and that mean so much to us. We decided a while ago that holiday travel was not desirable due to weather, traffic, animal boarding and the general travel considerations surrounding the Midwest in the winter. That usually then meant that we had to leave our perfect summer mountain weather to spend a week sweating in the Midwest.

This year however, we got to do it our way. With the RV we can set up wherever we want and whenever we want. We can work during the days and still visit with family and friends in the evenings and weekends. We can cook out and even have people over for dinner at our place (Something we love to do.) We also get to choose the season. We have always loved the fall weather in the Midwest so we decided to take advantage of our new found freedom by planning our family visit during season we enjoy the most. This way our Midwest friends and relatives do not have to listen to us complain about humidity and we have some great scenery to enjoy and share on our blog.IMG_2626 (640x426)

Having your own home and bed to return to at night also lifts some of the stress of family visits and especially pets that understandably, may or may not be as free to have the run of someone’s else’s home to the extent we tolerate in ours. Although our friends and family have been unbelievably accommodating to our unusual, stinky and dirty family, it is nice to only have to worry about apologizing for their messiness and various odors part of the day.IMAG0931

The other advantage of this type of visit is that you really get to spend quality time with your friends and family and not just a holiday party or quick hello and goodbye. We get to spend time seeing where our friends and families work and how they live. For the newer members of our family, we get to find out who they are.

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For those of us that are lucky enough to have family with RV parking and electric hook ups right at their house, we have the opportunity to get to know our families even better. In turn, our families certainly get to know us even better too – cousin Eddie style.

We get to participate in communal meal creation and stopping buy for drinks is no more work than getting the mail.  Heck, if you are real lucky, you might even have fresh catfish to share at dinner.

1383218_10202342144221628_2128552178_nInevitably, in return, you get a better understanding of who your family is and subsequently who your own spouse is…and why. Through our respective families, I can get a better understanding of why Robin’s goodbye’s always take hours, and Robin may understand why sometimes my goodbyes consist of going outside and starting the car.  It is easier for me to understand why some “stuff” is just so hard to let go of and why a long, hard, belly, laugh can be virally contagious and funny even when the joke is not.

In turn, hopefully it is easier for Robin to understand why it is not unreasonable to set your life schedule around playoff baseball on TV and why eating dinner before 7pm is so crucial to mental health. Maybe she will also understand how and why sports like golf can be an obsession that you love even when playing is not always fun.

Although time and distance do not necessarily change a person, sometimes indirectly they do. Although we no longer call places like Missouri and Ohio home, with our new lifestyle they can be, even if just for a couple of months a year.

RV Lesson #7: Although on a journey seeking an idealistic life and home, through extended visits with family and friends, it is easier to see that our former lives and homes were not all that far from ideal. We have found that our new full-time RV lifestyle can shorten that distance and bring us closer to home than ever. And possibly closer to your home too!

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(FYI, these RV Lesson’s are starting to feel and sound cheesy and forced to me. I may not include these in all future posts as we begin to document our snowbird travels hopefully more frequently) 

Navigating RV Parks

Written by: Jeremy

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As we begin our journey, Robin and I are easing in with relatively short driving days. Of course, the short travel days result in more stops between planned destinations. In fact, in just the last three weeks we have been in eight different locations including two state parks, four private RV parks and two private residences.

This is not necessarily our intended amount of moving but more the result of our need to get in some family time before the weather turns and we need to get south. Let’s face it, charming Milford State Park aside, there is not a ton of reason to linger anywhere between Denver, Colorado and Dayton, Ohio. We are currently set up at an RV park in Ohio visiting family after visiting family in Missouri. We will spend a couple of weeks here before heading south for the winter.

In addition to getting the hang of driving, we are also starting to get the hang of the whole set up and tear down process associated with our new 5th wheel travel trailer. We have had the trailer for a while so we have had plenty of time to figure out how to operate it. Becoming efficient at all the steps required to move is something that is taking more time.

Since we decided to go with a 5th wheel over a motor home I knew set up and tear down with hitching and unhitching would be more of a hassle on short one night stays. Because of this, the “Automatic Electric Leveling System” was a feature we decided we had to have.

“Find a spot, push a button to lower the gear and then hit the Auto Level button once and you are done!” At least that is how they explained in the RV sales showroom. The reality has been a bit different and we have found that getting the trailer fairly level to start is a prerequisite for the “Auto Level” system to work. That stipulation can be a challenge in a lot of Colorado. Considering that the system has already broken and had to be repaired, I am still waiting for the final determination on return of investment on this upgraded feature.

Other parts of the process are getting easier. The hitching and unhitching process is getting smoother every time as is the operations and procedures associated with the three slide-outs. Packing up and securing everything for travel while managing four animals is also something we are getting better and better at. Electric, water and sewer hook-ups are also now a breeze, although the process is still well short of a no-brainer. So far, the only real damage has been to a piece of trim and a cabinet door that that had an unintended union when putting out the office area slide-out.

The final and most important piece that we have had to learn in navigating RV parks is the park staff and/or ownership. We have found that most RV and campground websites are fairly limited and your best bet for getting a good spot and deal is with direct communication with the friendly staff. We have met RV staff of all sorts. Older family owned parks seem to be fairly common and lets just say, the pace is different that we might be accustom to in our previous daily lives.

Pretty quickly, we determined that I am not really cut-out for this job and Robin has taken over all phone and in person communications with RV park personnel. In fact we have determined that it is best if I wait in the car or act like I am checking out something on the trailer while Robin goes in alone. Although I have only done it once or twice, the line of communication in my experience can be something that extends my patience over the edge. Especially after a long day of driving:

Me: “Hi, do you have any available spots for a 32ft, 5th wheel”.

Staff: “Well, I recon we could get you in.”

Me: “Great, can you tell me what your rates are.”

Staff: “Yes”

Me: “OK, what are they?”

Staff: “$30/night”

Me: “Ok, we may end up staying for a week, do you have a weekly rate?”

Staff: “Yes.”

Me: “Ok, what is that rate?”

Staff: “Well that depends on what type of site you want.”

Me: “What are my choices?”

Staff: “Back in or pull through?”

Me: “How about a pull-through.”

Staff: “There aren’t any pull-through’s available this week.”

Me: “Ok, I guess a back-in then”

Staff: “Back lot or front lot?”

Me: “Is there a price difference?”

Staff: “No”

Me: “Ok, I guess we will just take front lot then”

Staff: “Really?”

Me: “Is there something wrong with the front lot?”

Staff: “Well, most people don’t like parking right beside the dumpsters.”

Me: “Do you by chance have a map or any literature that details all of this?”

Staff: “Yes”

Me: “That would be great. Maybe it would be easier if I just looked at that”.

Staff: “I recon we could print one out for you”.

Me: “Ok, if it is not too much trouble.”

Staff: “No trouble, Just need to get my daughter from the basement. She is the only one who know how to use the computer and printer.”

Me: “Can you tell me if your general store carries Scotch?”

When Robin takes care of it and I stay outside, for some reason, we seem to get much better sites and usually we have the staff doing us favors by the time we leave. I don’t know what she does or how she does it, but then again, the TV and internet is a mystery to her so I guess it all works out for us in the end.

I have even tried to book places on-line that say they are full. If it is a place we really want to stay, Robin usually calls to make sure. Five minutes and plenty of mutually animated telephone belly laughing later and we usually have our spot!

RV Lesson #6: When trying to get the best possible RV camping spot, personality goes a long way.  However, you have to be ten times more charmin’ than that Arnold on Green Acres, you know what I’m sayin’?

sj