Year one usually has a big learning curve. Considering our longest RVing experience prior to this trip was less than three weeks, I wasn't quite sure what to expect during the 7 months we'd be away from home. How would we feel, would Charlie and I get along, would we like our winter destination and get along with other campers, did we take everything we need, would we be bored- how would we spend our time? Many, many unanswered questions. Even though I am organized and did my research - still - you never know. And as everyone who's been following our adventure knows - this has been an extremely successful trip - better than we could have imagined! I actually think the secret to our success was not imagining too much and just letting life evolve!
We have learned a lot from this first year. I am starting to think a lot more about our trip home now; starting to clear out some old stuff to lighten the load as much as possible. Charlie has an appointment to have service work done on our truck. I will have to reorganize for travel once again; it has been nice being static for so long and actually setting up our space up like a home. I'm pretty sure we will be returning to Massachusetts with more than we started!
Now that I have reserved our spot for next winter at Bay Hide Away in Bay St. Louis, Mississippi, the intangibles I have learned this winter have come in handy in choosing our future winter location. Here's what we have learned that works for us:
Location: It was just under 2300 miles from Stoughton to Skyline Ranch. It was a long yet exciting road trip for year one, but I really wanted to cut the travel down to about 1500 miles. We love Texas Hill Country, but I also missed being on the coast - the beach. This is a big country - so much to see and do. With the invaluable experience we gained, I felt we could find other places we might be equally as happy with new areas to explore and people to meet! So, I found what I hope will be - a nice little RV park on the Gulf Coast. The town of Bay St. Louis is evenly sandwiched between New Orleans and Biloxi, which will provide some great day or overnight trips for us. It is a cute little beachside town and offers lots of beachy activities and food. The weather is fairly comparable to Bandera - also important. There is a CVS pharmacy in the area, access to a national bank we like to use, a local Planet Fitness - should I/we decide to join a gym, and just the everyday amenities - supermarkets and shops and casinos! Since Bandera has such a prolific senior center - I investigated into possibilities in MS - but it doesn't appear to be the same. I know we will find things to do once we get settled. It is important to me to become immersed in our new community - no matter how temporary our residency is.
The RV Park: When choosing an RV park for an extended stay, there are certain criteria we need to fulfill. -Spacious Sites: - No matter how nice, friendly people are - everyone needs a bit of a buffer. There is nothing more uncomfortable than being too close to a neighbor. You know you are way too close when you want to fully extend your awning and it almost touches your neighbor's rig! Having a little space and privacy makes for better relationships - no matter how much you like someone! You want to be able to sit outside, enjoy the sun or have dinner on your picnic table without looking into another trailer's windows. Being respectful and considerate is very important in this lifestyle - and most people are. Actually, many smaller RV parks have zero tolerance for campers that have noisy pets, walk through occupied campsites, speed, leave trash around, and who don't follow their rules (a big one in Skyline Ranch is parking on the grass) You will be booted out in a minute! Bottom line is - you are a guest on someone's property. Even though you are paying for your site, doesn't give carte blanche to do what you want. We understand and respect the rules of the park. If I thought a rule didn't make sense and made me uncomfortable, I just wouldn't stay at the park. I always have a choice.
-Amenities and Activities: - There are certain necessities we have gotten accustomed to and need readily available to us. Afterall - we are not just camping for a weekend - this is long term living. Besides the bare necessities of water, sewage and electricity, having decent Wi-Fi, cable TV to relax in the evening, laundry and additional bathhouses on site is a must have. It is also important to have a nicely maintained campground, places to walk, areas to hang out beyond your campsite. One reason why Skyliners keep returning year after year to the ranch are the people. Right from the start, we were welcomed in and invited to participate; we were happy to get involved! There are all kinds of things to do every day (bean bag, bingo, game night, ice cream sundaes, bar-b-ques, lunch out...) and Bay Hide Away offers lots of fun things as well. As a good friend commented to me "it's like camp for adults" - and in many ways it is! I even had opportunity to host activities that interest me - such as Scrabble, rock painting and a bake sale to collect donations for St. Jude Children's Research Hospital.
-Costs: Since we are on a "fixed-income" - making our money go as far as possible is really important. It is a constant battle against inflation but so far, we have been able to live really comfortably, do what we want, buy what we want - and actually still have money to put back into our savings. That is amazing to me! The key to our financial comfort has been making sure we are debt free, cutting our everyday living expenses (house, utilities, etc...) to smallest as possible. For us, we are lucky to have our beautiful in-law apt which is all inclusive for a monthly amount we negotiated with our kids. We contribute this amount even when we are away so what is left from our month SS's and annuity payout needs to be enough to cover our monthly winter expenses. Central South Texas and many southern states are a lot less expensive to camp on a monthly basis. Skyline Ranch current monthly site rental fee is $380 which included all our amenities except for electric. Electric averages between $20-25 per month. Bay Hide Away will be considerably more at $625/month but it is still doable for us. What we save in travel (gas and overnights) for the extra distance going to and from Texas, will offset the extra monthly fee. Propane is another added expense. During the warmer days, we use little and it lasts a very long time. During the nights and couple of colder days when heat is running pretty regularly, a tank only lasts about a week. The average cost to refill the tank is about $25-30. The price of food seems to be going up and up all the time. We eat out on occasion, but I cook mostly at home. The price of gasoline also seems to have jumped up - but now that we have been in one place and are no longer towing the trailer - we get much better gas mileage. Most of our driving is within a short distance so we don't need to fill up very often. Once a month we have been venturing out on longer trips, staying at hotels and site-seeing - but all these costs seem to fit within our budget. You can do just about anything if you plan well.
It seems fairly simple when I write it all out. It is a fun and exciting way to spend retirement. Hopefully, we will have many more healthy and happy years to keep on truckin"!
Our next adventure will be our trip home; also month-long planned trip through the southern states. Lots to do to prepare to get on the road again but looking forward to it!
