One of the ideas I would say that is the essence of the RV full time lifestyle is adapting. If you need stability and permanence and certainty each day, this life could be hard or frustrating.
For us -- we can not think of anything we would rather be doing!
In the midst of our winter in Florida, we have had to adapt. Nothing major mind you, or earth shattering or really a big deal for that matter -- just a few adjustments over the last few weeks.
For example, I like to avoid moving around the first few days of the month because I need a good internet connection for my online work. Otherwise, I have to drive into town to find a good connection. My 4G Verizion mifi works great - usually. But not always.
When we left Ft Meyers (thank you readers for the spelling correction!) we went to the Oronto South Army Corps of Engineer Park near La Belle. The internet was fine on the Friday afternoon we arrived. By Sat AM--- nada. poof! It went away. I spent the better part of the weekend at the local McDonalds. Nice place to hang out. Their internet wasn't as good as mine but it was a nice facility. It was not as convenient as working from the RV as I am used to-- but I adapted.
After the COE park, we headed for an RV campground in Punta Gorda. We had planned to stay almost two weeks. As we pulled in we thought, "ugh oh…." this is not the kind of place we would prefer. And it wasn't even that bad…just something about how we felt about the place as we looked around when we drove in. Have you ever had 'that feeling'?
We had already made a $100 non-refundable deposit so we added $5 more and stayed the minimum three days. Then we had to find another place and decided to check out the Escapees RV Park "The Resort" in Zolfo Springs. We changed our plans and adapted.
At The Resort we were looking forward to a better internet connection and full hook ups. But they were pretty full and we dry camped for $5 a night. We don't mind dry camping at all. In fact, we decided it was fine. Besides, it had been a while (Key West) since we exercised the generator and batteries. But after we stayed 3 days, we decided to move up to 'overflow' and a 110 connection with water. We found running the generator about 5 hours a day was costing us $10 (1/2 gal of diesel per hour). The 20 amp circuit was better, we could watch TV in the evening. But as we watched the weather and saw that it was getting colder, we knew we were not going to get into full hookups there anytime soon. So left for the 4H Cloverleaf Campground near Lake Placid, FL which is 32 miles away. (adapting…)
We are here in Lake Placid until Thursday when we will head east near Orlando. We like the 50 amp service, water and dump station for $12/night. But no internet. So, while I am not in the midst of my busy time for work, I do have a few things to get done online. Also -- I haven't been able to keep up with my blogging. Even if I don't decide to blog on a given day, I prefer to have the option to do so. So I adapt--today I am writing this from the Starbucks in Sebring, FL about 12 miles from our campground. Friday morning I was checking into work from the lobby at the Holiday Inn and Suites at Lake Placid…
Meanwhile, we have seen some wonderful things and I am going to tell you about them another time…reacquainting with some Habitat Care-A-Vanners who are here in the campground…seeing the murals and RR museum of Lake Placid…seeing the Civilian Conservation Museum and the oldest state park in Florida….but I'll do that another time.
Meanwhile, I hope you are warm and well on this beautiful Sunday morning.
Thanks for joining us on the Roadrunner Chronicles! Until next time...
But look at the bright side, you are going to be able to write a campground guide of Florida when you get done.... We always had trouble finding vacancies in Fl, and that's how we ended up in Az...
ReplyDeleteIt wont be but two weeks and we will be on the coast...in what I hope is warm temps.
ReplyDeleteAlthough it was inconvienient, it's still a good life to be able to rove around!
ReplyDeleteI understand what you are saying about adapting. When we first left Ontario for our very first Snowbirding adventure this January the first two days were without internet. The first two campgrounds had decent WiFi but then we attended the Tampa RV Rally and I was scrambling to the local McDonald's for a WiFi.
ReplyDeleteIn that period of time we were also struggling to get connected through Verizon and finally we got connected just on time for us to move to where MiFi and Cell Phones would not work but we lucked out that they had great WiFi.
Now we are at a park that has WiFi that they are working to improve but is slower than Turtle Wire. Fortunately our phone and MiFi are working at top speed.
When we get back to Ontario, Canada we'll have to start the process all over because the Verizon doesn't work up there, but like you we will adapt. Be Safe and Enjoy!
It's about time.
I'm so behind on my reading...so sorry we missed you we are only about a mile from the Oronto park..:( ....we also have verizon mifi and I do find it works well..
ReplyDeleteI can't say how many times we have changed our plans for one reason or another....from wifi to weather. This is our second year of full time RV life. Last year we planned too far in advance and cancelled and rescheduled all the time. This year we decided to wing it. So far so good!
ReplyDeleteWell, at least Starbucks has the best white chocolate mocha ever!
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ReplyDeleteAdjust and overcome...yep..that's RV livin' for sure! We stayed 2 weeks in January at Ortona, sit 51...Loved that place, but you have to reserve waaaaaay ahead of time if you want 2 consecutive weeks!!
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