RV INFO that You Probably already know ??

A Review of the GARMIN nuvi465T GPS Navigator for your RV

2012-02-13T12:04:00.000-05:00

GARMIN nuvi465T Navigator - pic by GARMIN

Using your GARMIN GPS Navigator - the Nuvi465 for CAR, TRUCK and RV drivers

This article is my review of the GARMIN nuvi465T GPS Navigator unit.

I have been using mine for almost a year now and I consider it the absolute best NAVIGATOR for the price and functionality for any RV owner.

It can be used in the CAR mode or the TRUCK mode if you are traveling in your RV, and be assured that you are using a quality unit that is providing you with real-time data for your safety and traveling confidence.

Click on the link above to read my more detailed review of this great unit.

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If you are interested in the nuvi465T, click on this link to find the latest and lowest pricing on AMAZON.

GARMIN nuvi465T available on AMAZON

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TRIP Preparation - You and Your RV - Prepare for the Worst and Enjoy the Best

2012-02-06T16:40:00.000-05:00

TRIP Preparation - You and Your RV - Prepare for the Worst and Enjoy the Best

This article is designed to remind you of all of those little things that you need to do to make sure that your vacation trip will be fun and you will avoid those nasty roadside accidents and problems that haunt so many other campers.

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Here is a great online vendor whose products are high quality and often are available at reduced pricing and Shipping.
Like almost all campers, the right clothes, and sporting equipment are necessary for that next level of camping fun. Check the site out.

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An RV Buying SCAM - Look Out

2011-11-25T17:13:00.000-05:00

An RV Buying SCAM - Look Out

I have my RV listed for sale, and I was contacted by a potential buyer, or so I thought.

Luckily, I went to my bank and learned how to handle a sale properly, and it turned out that I was actually dealing with a Scam artist. read this to protect yourself.

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If you think you might feel better with some high quality Emergency Meals stored away, then you might like this vendors product. They have excellent product packages, often they have impressive price reductions, and reductions in their Shipping charges.

Thanks for viewing this Blog Post by Don Bobbitt.

If you liked the content of this Blog, I would appreciate it if you give me a +1 by clicking on the symbol below:

A Typical Pull Out??

2011-10-31T18:33:00.001-04:00

What a start for a 6-month trip!

We talked the CW in MB into actually finishing the installation of our Fridge last night, so they, of course, made the mechanic work over until it was installed and working OK.

Then, as instructed, he parked the Rig outside of CW for us to take our unit early and hit the Road!

Well, we got up at 5:30 this morning. Yes, I said, 5:30AM!

We packed our fridge stuff, our overnight bag, and of course Helen had to sanitize the house because Star is coing down for the weekend and using our house, and we drove in the dark of night down to the CW store.

We finally got down to the RV, loaded up, and pulled up to a Gas station that sells Diesel, and I can get my Rig into with the Jeep tied to it.

Guess What?

6:30 in the morning is when all of the Beer and Cola distributors deliver their goods for the day to these roadside establishments.

And ............ Just guess where they park? Right at the end of the long line of fuel pumps, which b ythe way is where they put their only Diesel fuel pump.

So, I had to go inside and ask; "Which one of you is the Miller guy, and which one is the Bud guy?

Well, out of 5 different guys in there, two of them lifted their heads with a very impressive scowl, and both of them said; ME, WHY?

I stepped back a bit and then I responded.

"Hey Guys, I have an RV out side and I need to get to the Diesel pumps, and you guys are blocking them."

Well, Their scowls deepened and one said;
"I got about twenty more minutes before I am finished",
and the other looked at me as he wanted to remove some of my organs, and said,
"and I need more time than that".

I just smiled at them both and responded;
"Well, I am presently blocking the road, going down to a subdivision, and there are already two cars out there with pissed off people in them."

"I'll just go out there and tell them that you two guys need more time, and they should talk to you?"

"Who Knows?" I said; " Maybe a Cop will drive up and I can explain to him why I can't move my Rig because you two are blocking the pumps and are too busy to move your trucks."

As I turned to go out the door, I heard several strings of profanities thrown at me but the two guys actually got to their trucks, before I could get to my Rig.

As they moved, to where they should have been anyway, by the way,I smiled and waved to them, mouthing the words "Thank You!" over and over.

I filled up ($236 poorer) and I hit the road "South Bound and Down", as the song goes.

We put in a good 7-1/2 hours in the RV with only a couple of "Stretch, Pee and Eat" stops.

Finally I was south of Atlanta (daily goal #1), and into Alabama (daily goal #2), so we looked for a CG to crash in for the night.
No Wally-World and No Rest Area, tonight.
I wanted AC, Hot Food, Cold Wine, and a good nights sleep.
I plan to run tomorrow!

So, We are presently sitting in a CG in LaGrange, Ala. and: OMG! OMG! OMG!

I will have to tell you about this place after we leave in the morning.

What a Dump! (but with Good Intentions!)

The Adventure has begun!

In NEW ORLEANS, Kind of!

2011-10-31T18:31:00.001-04:00

OK, we were driving along , and we pulled over at a Rest Stop so I could stretch my legs and get rid of some of the Soda I had been drinking all day.

I realized that I was good for 2 maybe 3 hours of driving and we would need to stop for the night.

Looking at the map on my computer, I realized that the end of my day was going to be roughly right across Lake Pontchetrain (???) from New Orleans.

So, it didn't take us long to decide to sort of "re-arrange" our cross country schedule.

And, we did! We mad a couple of phone calls, and we had a 3-night reservation at a, RPI campground in a little town called Abita Springs.

Nice Campground, but crappy roads to get to the entrance.

We crashed here, and the first night we just drove a couple of miles up to a little Brew Pub and had Dinner, and made our plans for a day in the French Quarter the next day.

Well. as they say; It was on my "Bucket List" to do, and I did it!

Let me tell you something that I learned while bouncing around on Bourbon Street, Royal Street, and many others with names that I can't remember right now.

Back to what I learned.

I learned that the smell of decades of Vomit is not as glamorous as I remembered in my Youth traveling the world.

It kinda takes the edge off of the enjoyment of the food in the restaurants. You know what I mean?

Add the pungent odor of the Horse Poop dropped in the streets throughout the day.

And top all of this with the marvelous soaring temperatures, high Humidity, and absolutely no Breeze.

Now you have an idea of why everyone is drinking so much.

The damned place stinks and is miserably hot, but I do have to admit that, once my senses were dulled, the great Cajun Food, and cold drinks, and great Music won the day for me.

We had a good time overall, and I got the obligatory T-shirts.

Today? We are laying back and Chillin', preparing for a really long run tomorrow.

But, it should be worth it! Then we sit back and roam around teh south San Antonio area.

Eat som of that Tex-Mex food.

Drink some of that Lone Star beer.

Take a lot of silly pictures!

I can't wait.

In Texas and Lickin' my Wounds!

2011-10-31T18:28:00.003-04:00

Yeah, That's what I said; LICKING MY WOUNDS!

We pulled out of Abita Springs, just north of New Orleans right at daybreak.

We topped off our fuel tank (Gulp!-------$242).

And we pulled out onto I-12 (which blends into I-10 in Baton Rouge) and put the Rig in Auto-Pilot.

We stopped to Pee twice, and eat Lunch when we crossed into Texas, otherwise, we cranked.

We ran at 70-73 mph, (cruise control) the whole trip except when one of the many Brain-Dead drivers, that populate the Roads of America, tried to kill us. This only happened every hour or so, so I guess most of these "Zombie Roadies" were busy preparing for Halloween ..... or whatever.

Anyway, we rolled up to San Antonio, and took a left in to the "Hill Country" of South Texas.

It really is beautiful, and we are going to drive back through there and catch some good Pics to share in a couple of days.

And, there I was, over 9-1/2 hours of jockeying a Big RIG on the Interstates, Back aching, eyes burning, arms weighing over a ton each, and what happens?

There we are less than to miles from our CG, and my Garmin decides to Piss in my Oatmeal.

That;s Right, Piss in my Oatmeal!

The map system tells me to turn right onto a little street called, what else "D" street.

Hell, I didn't know!

I've never been here before.

Well, it turns out that my CG is very near a booming Lake area, Medina Lake.

It is booming so much that many of the aggressive developers have gone out and run bulldozers through teh Mesquite trees and Cactus, and Rocks and Sand, and marked off hundreds of streets.

They even put up signs with proper names on them.

So, some A-Hole at Garmin, went and added these unreal streets to their maps.

So, what is the Big Deal?

OK, These streets are wide enough for one car to go down.

I own a 42-foot, Rig with a 18-foot Jeep tied to it's tail.

Try to make a turn at an intersetion that is this narrow.

I only drove 6-blocks and made two turns before I got to a real Road.

I figure that I only took out 6-10 Mesquite trees and a couple of Cactus with the RV.

Needless to say, I now need; not only a good wash job, but also a good Buff and Polish of the paint job.

Anyway, we checked in to the CG, and went over and selected a campsite.

I unhooked the Jeep, and?

The Battery was Dead. I had put the ignition key in the wrong position, and the RV sucked down the RV battery.

I had to bum a Jump off of a fellow camper, and we backed into our site.

What else could go wrong?

You will not believe this, but You remember that our trip started two months late while we waited for some major parts for the Fridge?

Well, We opened the door, to assure that it had switched voer automatically to AC fro Propane, and

OH Yeah!

The Freakin' Freezer Temp was 35, and the Fridge temp was 48!

The damned newly rebuilt Fridge was not operating properly.

We walked around and cursed for a while and then after we calmed down, we opened some nice Chardonnay, and went Zombie for the night.

We got up this morning and those temps had dropped to 31 and 35, so we had hope that we could use the Fridge after all.

But, again, Murphy stepped in, and while we took a midday trip to Bandera, the temps had drifted back up to 33 and 37.

I called the brilliant people at Camping World, and they gave me a list of things to test and check tomorrow and call them back.

Banderas was cool,and I will write about it tomorrow, but right now, I think we have another couple of bottles of that Chardonnay somewhere, and ........ you know ....... What the Hell!

We are on Holiday! What else could go wrong?

G'Day!

From San Antonio TX, to Mesa AZ, in 2 days

2011-10-31T18:27:00.001-04:00

Yeah, we broke it down.

On Monday, we drove 9-hours to El Paso TX, and crashed in one of those secure roadside RV parks.

You really need to use these sometimes, even though they cost a little more at times.

We were only 2-3 miles from the Mexican Border in Ciudad Juarez,, which is just outside of El Paso, so we went for the extra security.

Early the next morning (Tuesday), we pulled out for another long drive of almost 8-hours, and we were in WACO TX.

I went straight to the Camping world there, and started the process of getting my Fridge checked out and beginning the approval process for the Insurance company.

The idiocy of the process required by the insurance companies is at a level that would try anyone's patience, but we are hanging on.

This time, I git a little smarter, and while the CW technicians jumped through the appropriate hoops to prove that the Fridge was indeed bad, we went over and checked into our campground.

This proved valuable later as we could go over to the CG, and do laundry, take a shower, and just overall kill time.

Now, here it is, Friday, and the inspector has sent his report to the insurance TODAY, and now we must wait for Monday for the insurance company rto approve the purchase of the replacement Fridge body.

Then we have approximately two weeks before it is delivered for installation.

Installation will take 6-hours, and then another overnight functional test before we can leave AZ.

I have to re-schedule my reservations in California, yet again, but we have accepted the situation, and are now going through a lot of Maps and Visitor guides to put together a plan for taking our Jeep out into the Deserts (just a little ways) and north to the Mesa/mountail areas.

I hope to get some really good photo's over the next week. Can't wait!

Right now?

Well, we had a great lunch at a Restaurant/Saloon called the Dirty Water Saloon, and are back at the RV catching up on our web sites and mails, ans a little bill paying.

Later, when it cools down (97F at the moment), we will take another walk around the CG

See Ya!

On to El Paso

2011-10-31T18:25:00.003-04:00

We are presently at Medina Lake just south of San Antonio TX, in case you couldn't tell by my other blog.

Well, I still have a bad Fridge, and have just decided (2-hours ago) to head to Mesa, AZ.
We have taken all of the meat in the freezer that we have been babying for almost a week,
and has cooked every damned bit of it.

We then stored all of this in Zip-lock bags and packed it into a coupel of styro-foam coolers that I just picked up cheap.

For Dinner tonight, we will have MEAT, with a couple of sides of MEAT, followed by a tasty DESSERT of MEAT!

MMMMM!- MMMMM!

We will drive for around 8-hours tomorrow (across the West Texas desert!)
and stay over in a CG just east of El Paso, TX.

It has a Pull-Through site I have reserved for the night.

Using it, we can just pull in, and hook up to; Elec. Water and Sewage, and lay in for a good nights dinner and nights sleep.

We will pull out early and hit the road for around 7.5 hours and get to Mesa,AZ around 3:00PM, in time for my appointment at the local Camping World.

They are supposed to try to fix whatever has gone bad with the Fridge for us.

But, we will have to spend the night
hooked up while they run a required Diagnostic test
that requires that the Fridge be run wide open for a number of hours.

The next morning they can decide what to replace.

The bad thing is we spend the night in a CW parking lot.
The good thing is that we will pull over to Apache Junction (18-miles away)
and lay up there for 9-10 days before we go over to California.

Who was it that said that camping is an Adventure, didn't know the half of it.

Well, I gotta open a bottle of Cabernet, and start packing up some stuff.

Day 2 and 3

2011-10-31T18:24:00.000-04:00

OK, day-2 was a little rough the next morning!

Way too many Jalapeno's and different cheeses and onions and green peppers and spices.

Oh ...... and corn chips!

Looked good!

Smelled Great!

Tasted Fantastic!

Next Morning? Not such a great idea in the copious quantities that they were consumed.

So, my plans for yesterday were dramatically modified so I could stay in the house and near the throne!

As to my "Open Display" food management plan on the counter top?

Well, I have had a couple of accidents that dumped enough stuff onto the floor so that when I walk into the kitchen, I am greeted with a medley of crunching sounds as I walk through.

I was going to vacuum, but then I figured that; What the Heck!

Leave it and just vacuum the kitchen ONCE!

The day before Helen gets home.

As to the crunching sounds from the crushed chips?

I had a great idea.

I put a pair of Crocs at the doorway into the kitchen, and slip them on when I go into the kitchen, and off when I leave.

Working Great so far.

Today? Well.my internal systems are back to functioning properly, so I will be down at the RV for a couple of hours tinkering with that noisy roof fan in the kitchen.

I will either fix it, or make sure that it is so broken that it will need to be replaced.

PS. You know those Eggs that you can pour from a carton?
I found some this morning, in the back of the fridge.
A note to you all ......... Don't spill that stuff on a rug!
What a sticky mess!
I decided to let it dry and maybe I can rub it off then.
Wish me luck.

On the Road for the Winter ..... I Hope!

2011-10-31T18:22:00.001-04:00

Well, we have been dealing (or is it not dealing?) with our RV Fridge problem for over two months now, and we just finally decided to do something!

We loaded up the RV, which took us three days, believe it or not, and we hit the road.

We decided that we could handle living out of coolers for a few weeks, at least, and still be on the road, to .......... SOMEWHERE!.

So, we pulled out yesterday, and drove up to Lynchburg, and are presently parked in our daughters driveway.

We will spend a few days with our kids and grandkids, and visit a few other relatives and some friends, and then we will head west.

On the drive up, I discovered that, in this cooler weather, our Fridge does seem to operate, somewhat in the LP-Gas mode. SO, if this holds up, we can keep our fresh stuff cold as we hop across the country, and we will just have to use a couple of coolers for drinks and ice.

Once we get to the West coast, I guess we will attempt to get our Fridge fixed by someone out there.

I don't hold out much hope though, as it seems that Dometic has shut down their factory in Sweden back in July, and haven't finished building their new factory in Elkhart, IN. ANything that they are shipping seems to be just what they have in their warehouse over there.

From this, even my simple mind can figure out that parts are going to be scarce for a while yet.

Dometic, though, just doesn't seem to be worried about customers with parts problems. Their standard response is; maybe in the next shipment in two weeks?

Ya just gotta love em!

Anyway, I will get online tomorrow and re-route our trip to take into effect that our starting point is no longer in SC, but in VA.

Should be fun, Huh?

On the Road ..... finally!

2011-10-31T18:20:00.003-04:00

You would not believe what we have gone through over the past week.

You think that this picture is of an RV, Right? Nope, it is a used RV wrapped around a new Fridge!

As the old Country song says; "I been Lied to and ..............".

Anyway, the Fridge is completed (or so I have been promised?)

And, early in the morning we are going to drive down to the CW store, long before they open, and load up our new Fridge with food, and finally head to Texas.

I am going to try to get on the road early enough to get out of MB, and on the South side of Atlanta by tomorrow afternoon.

If all goes well, I will pop into a campground for thenight and get a good nights rest and continue on from there down to Baton Rouge.

I figure that two long days of driving, and I can make up for one of the days we lost.

But, I am not going to push it. IF I have problems, or get tired, or whatever, I am going to pull into a truck stop or a Wally-World and shut down early.

I have done those 10-hour-plus driving days, and they really pull you down.

I don't need that.

So, I will have to play this whole first part of our trip to Texas by ear.
What does ON-THE-ROAD look like?

Check it out!

We spent a week in LaGrange, last night!

2011-10-31T18:19:00.000-04:00

Yep, That's right!

We were tired. I had driven over seven hours in the RV with a Jeep in Tow, and it was time to quit.

Oh, I was OK, but I needed to stare at something other than a white line on the right and a dashed line on the left.

I had wanted to make it to Montgomery, AL, but I decided to find a campground.

I got on the web, and found several in Auburn, AL. and we called a few.

Guess what?

It was Saturday, and what would think goes on at this time of year in Auburn, AL?

Right on College Football game.

It turned out that there wasn't an empty caming site within 30-miles of Auburn.

So, we backed off and found a little, and not highly rated CG in LaGrange.

It is called Hoofers.

Not a clue how it got it's name, but I had a weird feeling, but we went ahead and called them anyway.

The phone rang and a person answered and gave me directions.

Which I wrote down, by the way.

It went like this: You take exit-18, take a right off of the ramp. Go down three stoplights and take a right on the "14-Spur" at the foot of the water tower.
Go 3-4 miles and take a right on Hwy-27, go about a mile on the right and we are there.

OK, Simple right?

Idid as told, and turned right on US-27 ...... and I drove for 7 miles. No Campground.

I have been here before, so I pulled over and called the CG again.

The same guy answered, and I explained my problem.

His response was. "Lordy!" I'm not sure where you are."

TO which I responded; Well, If yoy live here and can't tell me how to get there, I am in big trouble because, I damned sure don't have a clue."

He seemed upet with my anguage, but ai calmed down and went through what I had done, and he said;

Oh, You took US-27, you needed to take state hwy 27!

So, after a minute or so, I peeled myself off of the roof and as calmly as possible mentioned the fact that someone, not from the area, would probably need to know this distinction in the future.

He was silent for a few seconds and agreed that he would keep this in mind.

Needless to say, we had a communication problem, but, by this time I was so tired that I was going to find this damned CG and stay there.

Little did I know!

I kind of knew that I was in trouble when he gave me his Cell phone number, and said if I had any more problems, that I should call him on it, because he was leaving the office, but wanted to be sure that I got into the CG.

OK, three more calls and I was finally on a road that he agreed was the right one.

He told me that; You can't miss the CG. It is right next to the John Deere dealership!

Cold Chills went down my spine.

And, let's ignore the fact that the 3-miles he said was ahead, was really 5.3 miles.

I finally found the John Deere Dealership, and sure as hell, there was a campground right next door.

Oh, Did I mention that he said it was owned by the same person as owned the Hoofers restaurant on the property.

So, we pulled in, and ..... the Office was closed.

It was only 4:00PM, and the office was closed!

I had to take an envelope and put my "cash" money in it and slide it into a slot like at a bank.

Then we went down to the camping sites.

They were all about 30-35 feet long!

So, I improvised.

I pulled into two sites lengthwise and to hell with it!

If no one was running the place, I figured I could do whatever I wanted.

BTW! There were around 70-80 sites, and there were 3 campers in the whole place.

I looked arund as I was hooking up and then I saw the signs;

PRAISE GOD! JESUS SAVES! VICTORY TO GOD!

I had Arrived!

My Beer drinking, swearing, and stinky feet Ass was ensconced in a dyed-in-the-wool religious zealots CG.

I told Helen, and we figured! We would shut up, talk to no-one, and get out in the early hours, so wat could go wrong? Right?

So, we finished hooking up and walked up to the Restaurant. CLOSED! Out of Business!

No problem, we walked out to the street for a look. IF you can't eat John Deere paint, well, we weren't going to eat out that night.

SO, we walked back to the Community building! CLOSED!

We saw a sign that said; WASEERIA!
We walked over and: two restrooms, a table TV, four chairs and rwo washing machines.
But, the AC was on and working.

We waked back outside the whole comples was connected to a big Church, Also closed!

I was ready to pray for a Beer by this time.

We talked things over, and we finally decided.

We went back to the RV.

We turned on the AC.

We turned on the TV.

We opened a couple of bottles of Chardonnay!

We RELAXED!

We went to Bed.
We slept well, and we;

Got the Hell out of "La Grange" before daylight the next morning.

Yep!

We spent a week in a LaGrange ...... last Night!

Goodnight!

Preparing the RV and Ourselves for a 6-month trip

2011-10-31T18:15:00.003-04:00

OK,
We're Back!
Yep, We have been sitting around at home for several months, but now we are getting down to the wire.
We have set a tentative "pull-out" date for the first of September, and we plan to stay on the West Coast for the Winter.
Today, I am taking the RV down to the local Camping World to have the Fridge checked out, because it acted a little funny on our recent trip to VA. So, better safe than sure.
After the Fridge, I will need an Oil change, along with some filters, etc.
More on this later.
Also, we are starting to pull our personal stuff together.
What we do, is take the 3rd bedroom of our house, and use it as a kind of staging area, for what we are going to eventually load into the RV.
This seems to work best for us, as we can walk in there at any time, and check if we have placed a certain item of clothing, or computer accessory, or whatever, in the staging area.
More later

Back Home and Preparing for our TRIP

2011-10-31T18:12:00.001-04:00

I can't believe that I have been so long without posting to my Blog.

But ..... I do have an excuse, if you will allow me.

Right after the last post, I went through a series of physical problems that sapped my desire to write. I say physical problems and not illness' because I wasn't realy sick the whole time, I just went from one probem to another.

First, we had arrived in the TT-Clermont FL campground, and I got food poisoning at a local restaurant ..... twice in two weeks. Each time, I had the typical symptoms of nausea and diarrhea. This, of course, screwed my system up, and I went into several days of Gout.

Now Gout, is very painful, and really restricts your movements. And the cure, for me as a transplant recipient, is the drug Colcisine. A regimen of this pill also makes you sick and gives you a strong case of diarrhea for several days.

Perhaps you now see the trend here? A lot of Nausea and Diarrhea. Great for weight loss, but it really makes you weak and lethargic.

Add to this the fact that I am a new Diabetic, and I spent the time at campgrounds, sitting in the RV, sick and taking my appropriate drugs for the symptoms of the day.

Now, during this time, I did have a day or two at a time that I didn't hurt, but never really got my strength back, or my desire to write.

Well, we finally returned to our home in MB, and I have my strength back, along with a clear non-drug-befuddled head. So, I am giving this update to our travels. There were several interesting things that happened that I will write about in the next few days, along with our planning process for a short summer trip in May-June. And, I really do have to start the process of planning our West Coast trip.

That's it for now, and Have a Good Day!

How to Get Started in Camping?

2011-10-31T18:07:00.001-04:00

How to Get Started in Camping?

This is a very informative article that attempts to descibe the world of campers, the different types, the proper accessories and other equipment needed, and the capabilities of each type of camper.

Not Full-timers ----- Yet!

2011-10-31T17:57:00.003-04:00

We are not Full-Timers Yet!

W want to be, but we have certain Health constraints that we are working very hard at managing so we can be Full-Timers for a few years. We have mentioned the Health conditions we both have, and I feel that all of them are manageable if we planwell and set-up everything just right.

We have met a lot of people that are Part-Timers, and they tend to define that as taking one 3+ month trip a year, plus a couple of short 1 or 2 week trips.

Helen and I call ourselves Most-Timers, because we return to our home in Myrtle Beach when we need to tend to Doctor Visits, Our House, our Cars, Legal Issues, or most importantly our Family in Virginia and NorthCarolina. You think about it:----- two people, with Dentists, GP Doctors, both with Orthopaedic Doctors, my Nephrologist, add Colonoscopies, Eye Exams, my new case of Diabetes, and we are going crazy to get on the road and heal, if nothing else.

The wanderlust sets in after about 3-4 weeks at home, and we really try to get things done and wrapped up as quickly as possible, so we can hit it again.

So, Most-Timers it is, for us, for now, with a steely eye on Full-Time RVing.

Selecting our first Class-A RV

2011-10-31T17:56:00.000-04:00

The Learning Process:

Our learning process on Class-A RV's started with our looking at a lot of RV's, new and used on a number of RV and Auto sales lots. Now, this is a painful process to a certain degree as you have to listen to, and eventually reject a lot of dealers. Remember, they all want a fast sale, and when you push back, they lose interest, so you really have to play their game up to a point by feeding them words they want to hear like:

"We want to get into RVing, and have decided on a Class-A, but we don't know a lot about them. Could you show me a few, and explain why I would want this model?"

"We have looked at a few, but we don't know a lot about this brand!"

"We just came into a little money, and we are looking in this price range"

"I don't see exactly what I want. I really would like for it to have - - - - - -- - -. Here is my phone# and email, could you check around for me, and let me know if you see what I want? Oh Yeah, could I have your card?"

I could go on and on, but you get the drift here. You need to talk to a lot of them, and take the time to learn about the differences in brands, models, potential problems and drawbacks, and pricing. You need to make an informed decision. These things cost a lot of money, and you don't want to make the mistake I made (more on that later).

The second thing we did in our learning process was to take advantage of eBay. There are always hundreds of Campers and RV's listed on eBay, by private owners as well as dealers. And, the listings have pictures as well as a lot of detailed data.

SO, I recommend that if you do not have an eBay account, get one.

eBay allows you to search for and find items (RV's) and add them to your own personal "Watch List".

I went on line once a week, and reviewed what I had listed, and I did not hesitate to call the individual or dealer, and draw out whatever new information on what they were selling. Each one would brag on their unit and tell you what was better about theirs than any others I might mention. A Great learning experience.

I also went to the NADA site (NADA.COM), on the web and went through the tedious process of entering the details on any RV I was interested in, and printing out the pricing which included the 4 values they provide;

Low Retail Base,
High Retail Base,
Low Retail w/Options, and
High Retail w/Options.

These are supposed to be the range of the potential value for the RV that you entered the Data for, but there is another number that the NADA data does not include, and that is the approximate discount off of Retail that the dealers work with in making a deal.

This discount is generally 10% to 12%, in a normal economy, and can be higher if; the economy is down, the model you are looking at is not a popular one, the manufacturer has gone out of business (this has happened a lot over the past year), the unit you are looking at is not in good condition, or has obvious repairs needed.

My First RV Purchase:

After about six months of looking on lots,dealing with dealers and individual sellers, I was comfortable enough to start making offers.

Helen and I decided we would find an older unit in pretty good condition, and use it for a year to confirm that this is what we wanted to do. We figured that either way, good of bad, we would fix up the easy things on what we bought and after a year, sell it ourselves, and then get ourselves a new unit that fill our personal requirements.

I had made several offers and not closed the deals, when I finally found a 36-foot 1996 Pace-Arrow Vision in the Tampa FL area that looked good and was reasonably priced according to everything I could find out about it.

The only problem was that I was a little "car-poor" at the time with 3 vehicles in the driveway. One of them was a Ford Explorer that I had run up a lot of highway miles on, over it's 5 year life, and although being in great condition, and looking great, it did not get very good gas mileage, thus it was proving to be very hard to sell.

In my negotiations with the owner of th RV, I casually offered to trade him the Explorer, and to my surprise he asked for pictures and details. I sent what he wanted, to him, and he counter offered a price including the Explorer. We negotiated for a couple of days, we closed the deal, and I sent him a deposit.

The next week, Helen and I packed some linen, some food in a cooler, and a few other necessities, and hit the road to Florida.

Inspecting the Pace-Arrow:

We arrive at the sellers house, and - - - - - well the RV did not look as good as the pictures, and Helen and I went into a spin with the seller, but - - - we finally we calmed down, walked around the block, and decided to give the unit a thorough inspection before we made up our mind.

We spent the next hour climbing all over the RV, and considering it's age, it was actually in pretty good condition. What had made it look worse was that the owner had let it sit for several months and it had gotten dirty, and there were a number of easy to fix cosmetic things on the inside, all easy to repair.

On the plus side we had the seller concerned enough to offer us a nice discount off of the agreement, and we finally went to the bank and closed the deal.

Driving my new (used) RV home.

I had planned and mapped our return trip in great detail, and we felt comfortable pulling away from the sellers house, and finally onto US-95 North.

We were somewhere just south of Jacksonville, when I decided to get some gas, so we checked my travel package of maps, phone numbers, etc, and we saw that we were coming up on a PILOT Stop.

So, we took the appropriate ramp and at the Stop sign, I lookedy and instead of a giant Truck stop, here I am at a facilit slightly larger than your neighborhood gas station. Well, I was committed now, so I saw that I could pull around the station and line up for a pump (barely) where I could get my gas, and still get out of the station and back onto the road.

Here is where I should mention that an RV has a totally different turning profile than a car, and that your RV povits on it's rear tire. (See my other Blog donsrvinfo.blogspot.com for details on this penomenon and how to handle it.

SO, I pulled past the pump, and made my turn to line the RV up. I suddenly heard a screeching sound and looked back and immediately slammed on the brakes. It seems I had just tried to move the concrete and steel protection post that you see at most gas stations near the pump, with one of the side compartment doors, which by the way is made of thin aluminum. The POST WON and I now had a concave baggage compartment door, with very little paint on the bottom part.

Added salt to the situation, came when the gas station manager came out laughing, and telling me that it looked lik his post was OK, so there would be no extra charge for cleaning my paint off of his post. He then went on to tell me that that happens every week or 2 to an RV, so he was used to it.

Helen and I humbly filled up with gas and left to continue on our trip home.

We crossed into Georgia and stopped at a nice campground for the night. We actually had a good night, everything on the RVworked for us, we had a hot dinner, and sat outside with a bottle of good wine to celebrate our new lifestyle, even if the RV was somewhat bruised, so to speak.

The next morning, over a hot breakfast, we cheerily decided that "this was the life", we had learned a valuable lesson, and finally hit the road again.

I should mention here that it turns out that probably 75% of US-95 was under construction, and we were seeing more Orange cones along both sides of the road than we had ever seen before this trip.

We had driven an hour or so, and we were nearing a bridge. The Cones had funneled all traffic into 2 narrow lanes with a speed limit of 60-mph, when we saw a bridge ahead. Then about 1000 feet before the bridge, the speed dropped to 55-mph, and there were construction people and equipment everywhere.

I slowed down, and stuck to the right lane, but was noticing that the double-lines on my side and the white line on the passenger side were barely wider than my tires, so I backed off some more as I approached the bridge.

Suddenly, my mirror filled with a very large Tractor truck with a wind cowling on it, and the Truck's right tires were right on the double lines. I looked to the other side, and the cones were right in the white line. This meant that my RV itself was wider than the allowed lane width.

My immediate choice was, Truck or cones, or brakes. IfI chose Brakes the RV directly behind me would hit me, If I chose Truck, it would either hit me, or hit the bridge, so I took out 8 cones (yes, Helen and I both counted the thumps) while the Truck passed me like a bolt of lightning, and obviously speeding. I pulled back to the left immediately, but I didn't stop, basically because there was no place to stop without getting hit in the rear by the Class-C motorhome behind me, as I mentioned.

By the time I crossed the bridge, I had decided that I was not stopping until I got to the next Rest Area on US-95. Well, it turns out that Georgia doesn't believe in Rest Stops, I guess, because the next one was in South Carolina.

As I drove to the Rest Area, I had previously noticed that the Class-C was always a mile or so behind me, so by the time I did stop, I was expecting all kinds of terrible things to happen.

I finally pulled in to the Camper parking area, and was getting out my tools to work on whatever damage I had to the RV, when the driver of the Class-C RV pulled in and the man and woman came over to our rig.

They looked at the damage, turned to us and started laughing. They said that when I hit those cones they were obviously not made of rubber, because they exploded into a million tiny reflective pieces of orange and white plastic and that flew everywhere. While continuing to laugh, they said they drove through this beautiful cloud in time to see 5 construction workers jumping over the end of the bridge abutment.

Helen said "Oh my God, were they hurt?" and the other woman said that "probably only their pride, the ground was on the other side of the abutment, and was at the same level as the road, so it looked like they just jumped and rolled away out of surprise more than anything."

They continued on in to the rest rooms still laughing at us, and we surveyed the damage. It came down to, a piece of the front fiberglass fender missing, a door mutilated on the battery compartment, and a cracked piece of fiberglass right in front of the door. Luckily I had the two best car body tools for this type of job with me; A drill, a pop-riveter, and a roll of Duct Tape.

Helen fixed lunch and I performed a makeshift repair job. We had lunch, and finally hit the road again, on our way home.

We got home, unloaded the RV, and finally relaxed enough to survey our experience. And, it had been an experience.

We opened a bottle of Chardonnay, sat down, and went over the whole experience, slowly and in detail. Our own laughter started, and by the time we got to the bottom of the bottle of wine, we calculated that the most expensive thing we had to do to the RV was repair the results of our trip, so we went to bed!

It turns out that we did fix the RV, and we used it for over a year and had many great times in it. We also sold it for a small profit and went on to buy the WRONG NEW RV.

That's another story.

TT Resorts, We Joined!

2011-10-31T17:53:00.000-04:00

While we were in Florida last winter I had my education in the ins and outs of their organization and, a long story short, we are now members of TT at their Platinum Level. The level is very important, as I will show later.

Our first experience with them (TT), was really when we bought our first new RV from Lazydays in FL.

If you don't already know about them, well, they are the largest single RV/Camper sales site in the country. If you go to their web site , they typically boast of an inventory of New/Used units in the range of 1000 to 1300, at any time. They participate (host?) the annual area RV show, and it is a good thing to go to, considering the size and number of vendors and new units being shown.

Anyway, We bought a new RV from them, and as we were (very efficiently) run through their sales process, on of the stops is a 5-minute stop with 2 TT reps, who tell you about the details of the "free membership in TT". During the interview, they tell you of the $9000+ savings if you sign the papers right then, and take advantage of free 90-day use of any TT site you want to go to, after your 4-day/3-night demo visit to Orlando that is "just up the road".

When you actually read the fine print, you will find out that; 1-the membership is only a (basic) membership for your choice of the East or West TT sites. [And when I think back to the sales pitch I did hear all of these words in one form or another, I just did not hear the details explained . Also, as a "Basic" membership, you have limits like; a maximum of 7-days at a site, with a following mandatory "out of their system" for 7-days before you can camp with TT again, and then only at the East or West sites that you selected.

When you do go over for your 4day/3night stay at Orlando, you check in with the sales people first, before you can actually check in to the CG. You start to know something is up, when the sales people see your green TT folder from Lazydays, and they all smile and tell you that YOU will be handled by Blank-Blank the special sales guy for Lazydays people. You sit for a few minutes and HE shows up and smilingly ask you when you want to meet with him and after you decide that day/time, he helps you pick a site, and you go on to your site and set up.

At this point, either you are a very smart guy who has just agreed to listen to a sales person for an hour, with no intention to buy anything, and stay free at a really nice campground. Or, you are seriously interested, and finally you meet for his pitch.

The meeting will be probably the best hard-sell 60-minutes you will ever go through. He will take your folder, set it aside, break out a pad of paper and start asking about 5-minutes of in-depth questions about you, your spouse, where you live, what you do, what your camping history is, what type of unit you have, some estimate of your earnings, etc, etc, etc.

Then he starts his pitch with this info, and starts writing down numbers on the pad. After the first number (assuming you don't just pay the top price and you are in there asking hard questions, and asking for more information on other options) he will start another column (or more) until he has a starting price for all of your options, and then starts the real hard sell, using statements like; These prices are only good for today, I can't go any lower without talking to my boss, Sorry, that is not available anymore. These are actual statements I heard.

Well, to make a long story short, we walked out. I get really queasy when I sit through such a hard sell, and start to fel suspicious, and the sales guy really lost me with the "Food for Today Only" part of his pitch. I ran!

I went back to my campsite and started canvasing my fellow campers and ran across several that were members of TT, and spent the next week grilling them un-mercifully. Here is what I learned:

First, you need to know that there is a TT annual fee in the range of $500-$600 you must pay, regardless of your membership level.
Second there is a pretty good turn in existing memberships, if for no other reason than members get older and die.
TT allows the resale and transfer of memberships FOR A FEE!
There are several web sites where you can post your membersjip for sale.
There are several good brokers who will handle the re-sale of existing memberships, at prices that are a lot lower then the original TT pricing, even with the TT fee they charge for approving the transfer.

It turns out one of the biggest brokers for RV Resort club memberships was located nearby, and I made a visit.

The process was smooth, the cost was very low, and I ended up with a membership, that has paid for the annual fee for this year already, and will next year also, if we travel as planned.

On the Road .... Again

2011-10-31T17:51:00.000-04:00

IT feels SO GOOD to be on the road again!

Helen and I spent all day yesterday loading the RV up with our stuff. It actually turned into a bit of a challenge.

You see, we both have a lot of Family and many old Friends in Lynchburg VA. We were both born and raised in the area, and sad to say, we do not get back there as often as we should. So, we will try to get in all of our Holiday visiting with people early, before we head to Florida.

Because we were going to Lynchburg for a couple of weeks, we needed to pack at least a few strategic pieces of clothing for the Cold, while saving as much of our storage for our warm weather clothing that we will need when we get to Florida.

We finally got the clothing thing done, and then we packed all of those things you believe you will need, but you rarely end up using. Then late last night we loaded all of the perishables we might want over the next few weeks, and finally finished around 6:30 PM.

We got a good nights sleep, and were up, and at it, this morning at 6:30AM. You know, doing those last few things that you forgot the day before.

We said our Goodbyes to our friends, and hit the road.

It was a pretty uneventful trip, except for the last couple of hours as we neared Lynchburg. The wind had gotten up, and I was doing some of that White-Knuckle driving. But all ended well and we are now all hooked up at our daughters house.

One thing that might be of interest to you RVers.

We retired to the Myrtle Beach area of SC, and our previous most efficient trips were up some back roads, over to US-95, and then onto US-40, and then taking NC-86 from Hillsborough over to Danvile VA, where we took US-29 to Lynchburg.

I had been told that US-74 was completed from Lumberton, NC over to Rockingham,NC. so I put it into my GPS software, and boy was it a nice drive.

So our new route will be from our home over to Chadbourn, NC (about 35 miles of 2-lane). At Chadbourn, we took US-74, all the way to Rockingham, where we then took US-220 to Greensboro, NC.

Greensboro itself has about 6 miles of dangerous driving (narrow roads, heavy traffic, several lane swaps, etc.), but you are out of there in just a few minutes, and then it is smooth sailing all the way to Lynchburg.

And, according to my Garmin, it was about 15 minutes quicker than the old way.

Starting Out in Camping ------ AGAIN!

2011-10-31T17:49:00.000-04:00

Helen and I are in our sixties, and we worked hard all of our lives, saving what we could along the way, while raising three kids. Finally, our physical conditions forced us to retire several years ago, and we sold our home, and bought a nice retirement home in the Myrtle Beach area of SC, and settled down to enjoy ourselves and enjoy the good life, as they say.

We did all of the things new retirees do the first year or so of our retirement, and after a while we began to tire of most of them. And, it did not take very long before we developed a case of "cabin fever" and we both knew that we had to come up with something productive and interesting to do, or we would go crazy.

Considering both of our physical limitations, we finally settled on getting back into camping. This was something we did for a number of our early years of marriage, that we and the Kids had really enjoyed.

Once we decided on camping, we started to research the world of camping and campers to pick what level and type of camping we really wanted to do, and that could we afford!

So, with both of us on the web daily, and subscribing to camping-centric magazines, it only took us about six-months to settle on what we really wanted, and those were:

we wanted a Class-A or Class-C Motorhome
we wanted minimal setup and shutdown labor involved
we wanted nice day-to-day comforts --- no HE-MAN wood chopping, mud, cold, etc. (Been There and Done That in our younger years!)
we wanted something that we would drive, and be able to take advantage of the Wal-Marts, rest areas and parking lots of America when traveling and feel safe and comfortable when we pulled over to rest and eat.
we wanted a nice Kitchen so we could prepare and eat our favorite meals, and continue to experiment with new foods and new recipes, as we are avid cooks and LOVE Good Food.
Oh, Yeah, and we needed room enough for my wifes clothes!

We felt we could get these and others of our needs filled with a Class-A, and then the big "BUT" slapped us in the face. You know -------"BUT we knew nothing about Class-A RVs; not manufacturers, not models, not pricing, not values, NOTHING!"

What to do? What to Do?

On to the Orlando TT Campground

2011-10-31T17:46:00.003-04:00

I just looked at the title I have for this Posting, and I realize that I have fallen into the same trap as so many other people who live or work in a specialized field. I have as many acronyms as words in the title.

I think this may be a good subject for a future posting, so you will probably see it here soon.

Until then, for the uninitiated, TT stands for Thousand Trails, which is a private RV Resort Club, and CG is just that, a Campground.

Anyway, we arrived here on the 9th, and got set up and comfortable that day, and then we decided to decorate for Christmas. The restriction we put on ourselves was that all ofthe decorations had to fit into no more than two medium sized Totes, and ideally, only one.

This has caused a good amount of heated discussion, but finally settled on what we are going to use now, with an eye towards improving on our selections in the future.

Our first purchase was very gaudy and some might say, ugly, lighted Palm Tree for outside. We then came up with the idea of a couple of Santa hats on the mirrors, along with a pair of Santa pants. A very nice combination. Try it.

Along with these, we have a nice collection of little plush Christmas animals for our dash, that look very nice, and we finally got a couple of those rope light strings. We decided on the multi-color ones, and will use them throughout the year, as so many other campers do for accent lighting.

We are still looking at other ideas, but for now this is it.

As far as TT CG's go, we prefer Peace River over Orlando, but that doesn't mean that Orlando is a bad CG. It is actually, a really good upper end CG, that I would recommend to anyone.

It is just that although the Orlando TT CG is right in the middle of every type of entertainment you might want, the peace and tranquility of Peace River is much nicer to us, most of the time.

Well, we are going walking up to the Clubhouse, to see what is going on today, so more updates are coming.

DON and HELEN

Campground Cliques

2011-10-31T17:44:00.003-04:00

We are still staying in the CG Southern Aire, near Tampa.

We have become accustomed to the CG, and the people here, who are mostly, by the way, older than us, and have their own cliques.

Actually, there are three distinct groups of people here, it seems.

First, there is the group who set up their camper or trailer on a lot ten to twenty years ago, added a sun room, and settled down to the good life in Florida. They keep mostly to themselves, are in charge of most of the clubhouse activities, and are distantly friendly.

The second largest group (or, so it seems) is the group of winter workers. These people have nice campers, fifth wheels, trailers, motorhomes, etc. and are the source of the noise you hear from 6AM to 7AM as they fire up their cars and go off to their seasonal job.

Many of them are full-timers, and as you already know, this provides them withthat extra income they need to pretty much travel the contry and enjoy their retirement. Usually, you can tell their sites, because they are decorated very nice, with enough stuff that it will obviously take them more than a couple of hours to pack up to leave.

The third group, are those like myself. We come down here to Florida for the winter in our RV, and stay at one or more sites, each for a month or more, and have a home base somewhere in the US that is sitting vacant until we get back there after it turns hot, and the mosquitos come out, here in Florida.

Of course there is the sprinkling of those RVers who come in for a period of a day to a week, generally just passing through on their way to somewhere else.

The people coming down to Florida for a week of vacation, with or without kids, are not evident here. This CG just does not have the entertainment or facilities that would draw them here.

I use the Gym, Pool, and walk the streets for exercise, and the Laundry is clean, well lit and everything is functional. Other than that, we are enjoying the privacy, and will be here until the 30th, and then we will go over to the TT in Clermont.

Y'all have a good day now! Ya Hear!

Don and Helen

Campground Critique - Southern Aire - Florida

2011-10-31T17:43:00.000-04:00

OK, This is my first shot at a CG review, so I will try to put the pertinent information in a simple to read format. By this I mean, pertinent to me as a 60-something, married, owner of a Class-A RV, who wants to get a good deal for my money, but at the same time have all of the appropriate comforts provided by the RV Campground.
And, I want to state that, these are my own personal views and impressions, and someone else might feel totally different.

Reservation process:

I made reservations for a months stay in January, back in the August time frame, as I was planning my winter in Florida.
THE First months rent was required up front, and in full, and was non-refundable.

Warning:
This CG is a Wilder Resort, and the pictures that they show are over ten years old and possibly even older.
They show open fields that now have elbow to elbow converted tag-alongs and fifth-wheelers with sun rooms added. And they have not moved for many, many years.

Check In:

Once I got over the shock of how the CG looked, I checked in, and two guys escorted me to my assigned site.
This was necessary because they had to direct me into the site very carefully, as my 38-foot RV actually only had one foot behind my RV, and 3-feet between the front and the street, as well as two feet betwen the drivers side and the RV. Tight to say the least.

Site Status:

The site, and all sites have a concrete pad. Or at least what is left of a concrete pad.
It was around ten-by-8, and the edges had been driven over so often that only the center was solid, while the edges were all broken away.
The concrete itself was so old that it had been worn down to the stones.
I could open my slides on both sides.
The electric was on a meter, and they required a $25 down payment for the month and they read the meter when I checked out, and had to pay another $9.
The water was palatable and had good pressure.
Also, we had no problem with the Sewer connection and usage.

Streets:

The streets were at some time, long ago, in the far past, hard surface streets.
But, they had been patched so many times, and also had so many bare areas, that it actually made it a little dangerous in places to walk. And I walk daily, weather permitting.

Laundry:

We used the Laundry regularly, and compared to other CGs, the equipment was in average condition, and a broken Washer or dryer was fixed promptly.
Some of the equipment is very old, one lady stated to me that she had been staying there over ten years , and half the existing machines were there when she moved in.

Pool and Jacuzzi:

The Pool was heated and kept cleaned, and functional for the whole month we wer there, and the Jacuzzi was also functional.
The pool area was kept clean.

Club House:

The Clubhouse, includes the Gym (old equipment), the Mens and Womens Bathrooms (only ones at CG), the Office, 2 pool tables, and the social area for all events.
There is another small building that houses a nice little Library of books.
There are lot of planned activities, and they all happen in the one building.
This was a nuisance to me because if you wanted to use the Gym equipment, you had to plan around the social calendar for the people who reside there either full time or seasonally.

Summary:

They are actually an old trailer park with a number of open sites that they rent to the unknowing RV traveler. The only advantage of this CG to me was that it is relatively close to Tampa, off of US-4 and is thus near a lot of entertainment and activities. After my stay, and basing my decision to reserve there on their pictures on the web, I will have doubts that any other Wilder RV Resort is any better than this one. What a shame! Great location, but an old, worn out CG. And---- Not that Cheap!

Wauchula TT Campground - the Dark Side

2011-10-31T17:40:00.002-04:00

Yes, the Dark Side of going to the TT campground in Wauchula.

You see, we went there in November of '09 for three weeks, and had a great time. We had just left VA and our kids, and drove down to this CG and stayed for 3-weeks.

The CG was not very crowded. and we were able to relax and go into a Zen mode. By that I mean, we were able to slow our BP down, drop into a healthy eating regimen, and truly relax.

Within two days we were walking several miles before lunch, reading and writing in the afternoon, exercising in the heated Pool and Jacuczzi before dark, and talking over a couple of glasses of wine and a light dinner each night. There is nothing to do in Wauchula, but we really did not care.

We were Chillin'and enjoying it!

Well, it turns out that the peak season at CG's in FL is Jan thru Mar, and we finally ended back at Wauchula for the last two weeks in February.

What a difference.

It turns out that the campground has approximately 200 campsites that are on higher ground, and all of them have full service. That means water, sewer and electric connections.

It also turns out that the CG has 200 sites, that are in the flood plain, down next to the river, that have only water and electric connections.

What this means is that when you call for a reservation, you end up playing the "Mud Hole Lottery"for several days.

Let me explain;

They overbook the full hookup sites, from what I can calculate, by about 30%.

So, when you check in, they send you down to the Mud Hole, where you can park without sewer hookup and play the lottery for a site with full hookup.

Now, this is not so bad normally, but the "lower-200" is a flood plain, and it had rained for several days of the past week before we checked in.

So, when we pulled in, we were handed a piece of paper that stated that they (TT) "were not responsible if you got stuck in the mud, and had to be towed out." Then I was told to "pick a spot, down there, that was not too muddy!"

I was given another piece of paper that explained the lottery; and senton my way down the hill.

Simply stated, it said that when I checked in, my name was put on a list, and each morning at noon, a list of available sites were posted that had opened up when people checked out that morning.

I was my responsibility, to go around and look at the sites and decide which ones my RV would fit into.

Then at 1-O'clock the Lottery would occur.

The Lottery meant that they would go down the list of people that had checked in and call out names in the order of check-in.

When your name was called, you had to pick one of the remaining sites, or pass. To pass meant that you dropped to the bottom of the list for one more round of calls, and if you did not pick a site then, you were permanently in the Mud Hole.

If your name was called, you had a choice of what was oped up and not picked by others ahead of you that day. Good or Bad!

What this did was turn a lot of very civilized retirees into overwrought and over-stressed couples who had no feeling of control of where they would camp. In the trees, In a wooded area, In the Open, In the Mud? Good Satellite, No Satellite, Good TV, No TV? All a mystery.

T make things worse, the list of people was long enough that it took from 3 to 4 days before you were even called for site.

Take the typical member who, at this time of the year has a maximum of 2 weeks and for many, only 1 week of member stay reserved, the lottery only added a new level of stress.

It took 3 days before we were called, and I got a pretty good site, but one thing I did notice. The charm and relaxed atmosphere was shattered by this Lottery.

Whether you wanted to or not, you got pulled into the new attitude of "Hurry", followed by a feeling that you had just been screwed by someone.

Add the colder weather, and overtaxed support system at the CG, and it was just not the same CG we enjoyed back in November.

I, personally will try to avoid the "Wauchula-TT-CG Mud-Hole Lottery" next year. It is like staying in a different world during the Jan-Mar period. And one day ..... TT itself, and the Wauchula site specifically, will suffer for this Lottery of theirs that denigrates the whole meaning of TT and Resort camping, itself.

Well ..... Have a nice Day!

Don and Helen

WHY we RV

2011-10-31T17:27:00.001-04:00

WHY we RV

This story is one about a favorite pasttime of mine when we travel in our RV. And, that is the discovery of fantastic out-of-way places near our campground. I highly recommend that you stop by this little place if you are anywhere near it in your travels.