It's been a busy week here at Kelly's RV Park in White Springs, FL. It has also been HOT! As I write this post the temps. are nearing 100 and the long-range forecast calls for more of the same over the next two weeks. Ah, summer in Florida. Although the heat made the move into our new home a tad uncomfortable, the garden is loving it. As the above pictures show, everything is growing well and producing a tremendous amount of vegetables. There is great joy in cooking and tasting vegetables that are picked fresh from the garden. Given the current prices for vegetables purchased in supermarkets, we are blessed to have this garden available to us.
On the first of this month we officially moved into our new home. (See pictures above.) It is a three year old, 37 ft. Crossroads Zinger that includes a roomy deck (which Quincy loves) and a storage shed. We are still slowly settling our stuff into place, but are amazed at how much more room we have compared to our old 32 ft. motorhome. With a large slider in the living area and a smaller one in the bedroom it is now possible for us to move around without bumping into one another. The unit is in spotless condition both inside and out with beautiful layouts in every room. One of the biggest benefits for us is a kitchen with ample counterspace and a full size refrigerator. After living two years in a much smaller space, this place feels like a mansion.
Although our old, trusty RV Howie has been good to us and provided a wonderful journey filled with priceless memories, our decision to move was based on two major factors. One was that our friends, Peggy and Tom, made us an offer for purchasing this place that was simply too good to pass up. It's a rare opportunity to be able to upgrade in ways that require very little effort to move and still comfortably fit within a monthly budget. Once again, our thanks must be offered to them for making this opportunity possible at this time.
The other factor is the changing nature of full-time RV living. When we began our journey two years ago the economic realities were much different than they are today. With rising gas prices, rising food prices and rising site fees at RV parks it has become increasing difficult to maintain a lifestyle of constantly living and traveling in an RV unless one has an unlimited income. When you're driving a vehicle that has an 80 gallon gas tank and gets only 8-10 miles per gallon at best it doesn't take long to plow through a large pile of money. Although we still plan to continue our travels in the future, the best way to approach our RV lifestyle at this point is to be practical about adapting to the current economic realities.
For better or worse, we are not the only ones in the RV lifestyle who are rethinking their future travel plans. In just this park alone, there are at least six couples who stayed here last winter that will not be returning next season. Several have been staying here for years. Two have obtained work camping positions and the others have decided to halt their RV travels for various reasons. Although new RV production is predicted to climb slightly during this year, the current trend for RV use is shorter trips and more full-time travelers becoming long-term residents as opposed to short-term or seasonal visitors. As Bob Dylan sang years ago, "The times they are a changing."
For the next week we will be busy getting Howie ready for sale. Let's just hope it cools down a little. Happy Trails everyone.
Copyright 2009-2011 Lane A Geyer
Photos by Lane
