Waterfront Living

OMG, what a month this has been. My plans to sell the trailer I had been living in were squelched when the owner of that park sprung the news that I had to REMOVE that trailer from the park if I left. Nice, huh? The chances of finding someone who wanted to buy the trailer AND pay to move it were pretty slim (since I had paid less than $5000 for it just one year earlier), so I gave it to a neighbor who was able to remove it (at no cost to me) and use it himself for a hunting camp. Win-win. I chalked up my original cost of buying that trailer as still less than apartment rent for that year.

Then I move over to this new park and the manager starts making noises about my RV. She's concerned that it's too short (?), too old (it's a 1998), "is it self-contained?" she asks. This new park is under new ownership and the manager doesn't seem to have a clear picture of what they want. I'd like to think they want clean, quiet, employed people who will pay the rent in a timely fashion, but what do I know? After two weeks of not knowing if I could stay or not, I enlisted the assistance of one of the maintenance guys here who helped clarify things between the owner and the manager and now I have THE BEST SITE!

I am in "the ghetto", as they call it here. It's in the far back of the park, on a cul-de-sac, ON THE BAYOU (yeah, waterfront, baby), and pretty much all permanent renters here, versus older, retired snowbirds. We're all around the same age +/-, we all work, and we all like to hang out and just get along with each other. If there's a downside, it's that Hillsborough Avenue is within a few hundred yards of this section. After living off I-75, though, this highway is nothing. It has already become white noise.

I can launch my kayak right from my backyard. I can sit here and look at the water and I even heard we get manatees going by. Yes, this park and this site are a bit more expensive than my last place, but it's still less than $500 per month for site rent. The cost of electric for the first two weeks I've been here, in the dog days of summer with the a/c running? $20.

Long Time, No Blog

I am SO not into commitment. After one full year of living in a 26' travel trailer in an RV park in Wesley Chapel, I have decided to divorce the trailer, move back into My Way (my class B) and move to a different RV park on the far west side of Tampa (Westchase).

The park where I've lived for the past almost-two-years is becoming less "RV park" and more "trailer park", with an increase in questionable folks coming in and a decrease in budget on maintenance and staff. Maybe it's just a sign of the times, but I'm not happy with what the park is becoming ,so I'm getting out of here before it gets any worse.

The park I am moving to is at the top of Tampa Bay and I'll be able to put in my kayak right from the park and paddle the creek to Tampa Bay. The park is more spacious, less crowded, better staffed and cleaner than where I am now living. And yes, it is more expensive, but I'm willing to pay more to live in a nicer park. It's closer to my work, restaurants, shopping and to my friends and the beaches in Pinellas County.

My rent here is paid through mid-September and I'm going to start my lease at the new park on September 1, so I'll have time to transition. The first thing I need to do is get a shed on the new lot for storage. After that I'll be all ready to move.

So I'll be back to fulltiming it in the Class B. Actually, I've missed that and have really enjoyed the times I've taken off in it for several days at a time. I just love the simplicity of living in that really, REALLY, small space. Stay tuned.