Lingerlonger
First Winter as Snowbirds
by , 01-03-2016 at 08:58 PM (5844 Views)
I thought I'd start this blogging effort to share our experiences as First Time Snowbirds in Florida. It has been our dream/plan for a long time to do this every year as long as we're able to travel. I retired 8 years ago, but continued to work part-time until recently. Wife retired 5 years ago, and still works occasionally, but is fortunate enough to set her own schedule. We live in Maryland, so the winters are not terrible. We both grew up in the South though, so cold/snow/ice are not our favorite weather.
We bought the Reflection 337 about 18 mos ago, after owning a Keystone Cougar 5W for several years and a few TT's and pop-ups before that. We've pulled it maybe 5K miles and spent about 100 nights in it in those 18 mos. We find it very comfortable for us. Our tow vehicle is a 2011 F250 CC 4WD short bed with a gas engine. (Should have bought a diesel. Next time!)
Anyway.......We had the usual wonderful Christmas holidays with family, kids, & grandkids in Maryland but were as excited as a puppy with two tails about getting started on our great adventure. After 10+ days of rain at home in late December, we headed for the "Sunshine State" on Dec 30th. It rained the entire 3 days of travel down here, and has rained the 3 days we've been here at Riverside RV Resort, Arcadia/Port Charlotte, FL. The sun will come out tomorrow though!
Aside from the rain, the trip south was uneventful. Total of 1050 miles over 3 days. Averaged 9.3 mpg. Stopped overnight at Camp Pedro, South of the Border, SC for the first night and at a KOA in Starke, FL the second night. Both were fine for overnight stops. We left the 5W hitched up both nights due to the rain and arriving after dark.
All the systems onboard have worked fine so far. We have used everything from the fireplace and furnace to both AC's. The MaxxAir fan I had installed in the kitchen along with the "Dry" setting on the AC have helped tremendously in removing the humidity. I had winterized in November so I was a bit anxious about hooking up the plumbing. The only mishap was of my own doing. I had neglected to turn the outdoor shower valves off after winterizing, so they ran open for about 30 minutes after I hooked up to water. I don't think much ran into the basement or undercarriage, but I plan to check closely in the next couple of days.
For the past several years, we have spent a couple of weeks in Florida doing RV Park reconnaissance on both coasts. We decided on the Gulf Coast and found this place last winter. We put our names on the waiting list for a site and got lucky. We are about 5 miles NE of I-75, away from the hustle/bustle and traffic of places closer to the coast. We wanted a quiet area, and a large lot. This place is a bit pricey, but suits us well. It is 30-45 mins to the Gulf Beaches, and about 10 mins to a multitude of restaurants in Port Charlotte. We think we'll be very happy here. There are over 400 FHU sites, along the Peace River and surrounded by cattle ranches and citrus groves. Our site is huge and backs up to a large lake with a couple of fountains in it. We've just been chillin' and resting up since we arrived. Will finish setting up the site in the next few days and post some photos when the sun comes out. We haven't toured the entire facility yet, but did see one Solitude (Michigan tags) and one Momentum here today. (( http://www.riversidervresort.com ))
We got a contract on the sale of the big house in Maryland between Thanksgiving and Christmas and have navigated through most of the associated hurdles. We'll have to return maybe a couple of times to finish moving out and attend settlement in February. We're putting what's left there in storage and will look for a small condo when we return in April. Have already penciled in the Ft Myers RV Show later this month, the Plant City Strawberry Festival, and the Arcadia Rodeo in March. I'm sure we won't have any trouble filling our days. We have several retired friends living in various parts of Florida, so we'll be doing some visiting with them also.
Until next time......
Ken & Wilma
Email Blog Entry
Go to Profile
Mark as Read
