Friday, November 11, 2016
Thursday, October 6, 2016
Friday, August 26, 2016
A traveling experience to remember
I still remember hitting the road on our first official RV trip. Not yet used to hooking up all the hoses after being parked. Not familiar with how to back up, park, and stay in my lane while traveling, we set out for a short trip to Tampa, Florida. We wanted to leave early so we wouldn't be traveling at night, but somehow it didn't workout the way we planned. We left as the Sun was setting. The scenery was beautiful. Traveling down Florida's Alligator alley, then going up I-75 was beautiful.
As we traveled we made no reservations to an RV resort/park, so as we traveled we called around to find one. What we didn't know is that most RV parks close at 5pm. Inspite of the information we received, we continued on our journey. At around 9:30, we just so happened to come across a park the would allow us to park, and they said come to the clubhouse in the morning, and we will workout the pricing of the park. We continued to ride along the beautiful I-75 heading north to Tampa. We drove for what seemed like 2 more hours, and I was beginning to get sleepy. Note: my wife does not drive, or help me drive, and she is not trying to learn. Finally, we arrived at our destination which was in the woods.....the backwoods. As we pulled in, and the neighbors came out to assist us in parking. We were brand new to RVing and we are a minority couple, but to my surprise the RV community is a loving community that assist at every turn. I was overwhelmed by all the support given by people I didn't know. They help me hookup, put in the cable plugin to the amperage, and made us feel comfortable, and very welcomed. The next morning when we woke up, the neighbors asked if we needed anything? to which I replied, "'No". The Park was very clean, and neat along with the hospitality of the clubhouse workers. Our camping experience was a success, and we looked forward to our next trip. On our way back home I saw some really good gas prices, but they were north of us returning to South Florida of course. But me attempting to be thrifty, I had to catch those great gas prices. So we trekked on to the gas station, and there it was.......cheap gas. I pulled in to the station driving with one hand thinking Im in my car and just as I was almost at the Pump the unthinkable occurred. I heard a loud noise and a slight tug and grind, looked in the rear view mirror and saw my Rig smashed on the side. I quickly stopped got out of the Rig and look at the damage, and boy did I damage it. The forth cargo door was smashed in dented, and looked horrible. My new Rig that I had less than a month is damaged. I spent the entire drive back embarrassed of how my Rig appeared to others.
The lesson learned in this instance to me is," in an RV never get too comfortable". I won't talk about what it cost to repair it, I still hurt from what had to be paid to fix it.
As we traveled we made no reservations to an RV resort/park, so as we traveled we called around to find one. What we didn't know is that most RV parks close at 5pm. Inspite of the information we received, we continued on our journey. At around 9:30, we just so happened to come across a park the would allow us to park, and they said come to the clubhouse in the morning, and we will workout the pricing of the park. We continued to ride along the beautiful I-75 heading north to Tampa. We drove for what seemed like 2 more hours, and I was beginning to get sleepy. Note: my wife does not drive, or help me drive, and she is not trying to learn. Finally, we arrived at our destination which was in the woods.....the backwoods. As we pulled in, and the neighbors came out to assist us in parking. We were brand new to RVing and we are a minority couple, but to my surprise the RV community is a loving community that assist at every turn. I was overwhelmed by all the support given by people I didn't know. They help me hookup, put in the cable plugin to the amperage, and made us feel comfortable, and very welcomed. The next morning when we woke up, the neighbors asked if we needed anything? to which I replied, "'No". The Park was very clean, and neat along with the hospitality of the clubhouse workers. Our camping experience was a success, and we looked forward to our next trip. On our way back home I saw some really good gas prices, but they were north of us returning to South Florida of course. But me attempting to be thrifty, I had to catch those great gas prices. So we trekked on to the gas station, and there it was.......cheap gas. I pulled in to the station driving with one hand thinking Im in my car and just as I was almost at the Pump the unthinkable occurred. I heard a loud noise and a slight tug and grind, looked in the rear view mirror and saw my Rig smashed on the side. I quickly stopped got out of the Rig and look at the damage, and boy did I damage it. The forth cargo door was smashed in dented, and looked horrible. My new Rig that I had less than a month is damaged. I spent the entire drive back embarrassed of how my Rig appeared to others.
The lesson learned in this instance to me is," in an RV never get too comfortable". I won't talk about what it cost to repair it, I still hurt from what had to be paid to fix it.
Monday, August 22, 2016
Saturday, August 6, 2016
Wednesday, August 3, 2016
My first campsite, and travel adventure in my new RV
I still remember the day we loaded up in our RV to start out on our first trip. I remember checking in, and then going to the spot selected by the receptionist. Right away there were people there so friendly helping me back in. I remember my wife helping me plug in, putting the jacks down, connecting the hoses, and finally letting out the slides. From the inside we connected the cable up with the parks cable system and we were settled in. I pondered if I had connected the sewer hoses correctly, if the jack were set appropriately, if the slides were all the way out. The excitement in the RV was on 10.
On the way going to my destination, I remember stopping to gas up. Man, it was more fuel than anticipated, but nothing could deter my excitement. I remember trying to get used to steering the vehicle as cars, and trucks literally flew past me. I also remember swerving a few times as I tried to stay within the lanes. I loved the feeling of sitting high in the seat of my RV(I have a sign sitting on my dashboard that reads, "YES I DO OWN THE ROAD". I remember pulling in to a particular gas stop, feeling as though I had mastered driving my RV and damaging the cargo door on the drivers side. OH!! I was disappointed to see my brand new rig with damage on the side. I could see cars passing by looking at the damage to my rig that I caused. Non the less we continued on our journey. During our first trip at the park, people were so friendly and helpful. Now Ive got to be honest with you, me being a minority in the RV industry it was very different from what I was used to. It was a loving helpful community of individuals at the time that did not see anything negative, but just to lend a helping hand. In fact, in my many but limited experiences camping, the same love has been shown to me everywhere I have traveled. Our first trip was a business trip, so it was not long, and we did not get a chance to really get our feet wet so to speak. But it was long enough to formulate some opinions about camping.
1. I love camping
2. No experience is the same
3. I always meet good people
4. Many of the people I have met are wealthy
5. Every campsite has something different to offer campers
6. We always try to eat out away from the camp.
I have nothing but positives when it comes to camping.
But, I would prefer being on concrete over being on dirt/grass.
Nothing but memories for the camping situations I have encountered. I would recommend it to those that I know, and those looking to break into the camping lifestyle.
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