Sweetwater Rv Park – Zephyrhills, Florida
That phrase is heard around here several times a day!
The remodeling projects last year of removing the carpet and replacing with Allure Flooring, replacing sofa with two comfy recliners recliners, and a new Bed In A Box memory foam mattress, have made us comfy, but storage is still an issue.
Surprisingly the cats aren’t the problem because they mostly sleep on the front dash or the bed and are rarely underfoot.
We only have 2 small closets and a few drawers for our clothes. Since the weather is changeable, we need both summer and winter clothes and those jackets take up lots of valuable closet space. Yep, we need a bigger motor home!
We’re trying to make some adjustments to give us more room. One thing that will help is Al’s new truck topper.
We opted for the side windows that lift up so you can get inside to get at your stuff. The windows that came standard were sliding windows with screens. You would have to crawl inside to open them and the screens would block you from getting in through them. We also got bars so that we can put a roof rack on if necessary. Then we could carry either the kayaks or a ladder on the top.
Our old topper fit flat against the bed with a hinge in the middle so you could open either the front or rear. It was easily removed when we needed to haul kayaks or other large items. It started leaking at the hinge though. It limited storage space inside because it was only as high as the truck bed.
Al assures me we can still get both kayaks in the truck bed with the topper on. One has to lay at an angle because the bed is not wide enough for both to fit side by side. If/when we get our new Sea Eagle Fast Track 385’s, they will fit nicely deflated and still give us room for other things. The more storage the better.
We’re still trying to see, and hopefully test paddle the Sea Eagle boat before we buy one. We’re 99% sure they will work for us, but at $850 a pop, it’s a bit expensive to make a mistake. Our neighbor has the 330, and has offered to let us test it, but it’s so different from the ones we’re looking at that I don’t think it would help.
The Sea Eagle main website has a 180 day money back guarantee. However the boats from that site are $100 more expensive than the boats that fellow rv’ers and Sea Eagle Dealers at Inflatable Boats 4 Less. Inflatable Boats 4 less aren’t able to offer that 180 day trial period (and I don’t blame them) but they do offer a 30 day return policy with a 20% stocking fee. So…that may be what we’ll do if we can’t find one to try out pretty soon. We really think the boat will work well for us, but it’s a lot of money to spend if it won’t be the right boat. Once we get them, it will sure help with space issues.
Anyway we’re trying to make adjustments to make our rv living more comfortable and organized. We still need to purge a few things, but are waiting to make sure we won’t want/need them later. Our two months of living here has been a good test of what it will be like when we go on the road full time. We’re already dreading going back “home” and if we could, we’d stay away. Unfortunately we still have lots of stuff there and a lot to do.
We’re thinking of heading to Vero Beach at the end of the month. I hesitate to mention that because so far our plans for this winter have not worked out and I don’t want to jinx us!
Mom has an appointment with a pulmonagist next week. The cardiologist says her heart is fine, but she is still having spells where she has pressure in her chest. Anybody have any ideas? We’re not making any reservations for now, but hope to be able to stay at Sunshine Travel, which is a Thousand Trails resort. We paid an extra $199 on our Thousand Trails membership, for 6 additional Florida parks. This is one of those parks. It’s on the Atlantic coast of Florida and a bit south Tampa. It’s a nice area and one we’ve not explored much. We’re hoping we can get there. We can stay at any Thousand Trails park for up to 14 days, then we have to be out for 7 before going back or to another park.
Anyway….back to the title of the post (before I got sidetracked) we have been “pre” looking at motor homes for a possible trade up in the future. We’re not sure we want to spend the money (duh), but we’ve visited Lazy Days a few times in fact finding missions to “test the waters” as the politicians say!
Lazy Days is having a great month, sales wise and there are new trade in’s coming in every day. Now is a good time to look for a nice used coach.
Nothing will happen at least until we sell the house, but we want to see what is out there.
Yes, we need a bigger motor home :)
It's exciting looking for new rvs. Having just gone thru it and deciding to make the jump from motorhome to 5er involved a lot of looking and research for sure.Have fun with the process.
ReplyDeleteI agree - go for that bigger MH! And, while you're at it buy those new kayaks too! Everyone has to do their bit to help the economy recover quickly. Now, I guess, you'll just have to decide on 'how big' a new MH you actually need!
ReplyDeleteHope you make it to your planned park. We have had a winter like that too. This is our third park we have tried to stay at least month, we may just make it this time.I keep remembering all those blog folks who have told us how RVers plans are made in jello.
ReplyDeleteIt is a constant struggle with room in the motorhome. I have tried to impose a rule of "something in/something out" but that rarely if ever works.
ReplyDeleteI cannot even think about a bigger one as I sometimes want a smaller one. What can work is a regular review of what you are dragging around. I still find after four years on the road that we carry stuff that we rarely, if ever actually use.
Once you see what you actually need compared to what you carry. you might find that stuff can be left behind-then you have more room for other stuff you probably will not use :)
Pre-looking can be fun.. just so you don't fall in love with something and can't live without it... gotta have the timing right too?
ReplyDeleteEach time we look, we love what we have even more, and appreciate it's features. Seems the newer ones are made less and less well. So we go back to ours, pat it, and say "Good Motorhome"
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Karen and Steve
(Our Blog) RVing: Small House... BIG Backyard
http://kareninthewoods-kareninthewoods.blogspot.com/
Craig wants to start out in a BIG motor home. I'm a bit hesitant and would prefer a medium size one because we want to do a lot of travel in the first year. I think a medium size rig will be easier to drive and cost less in fuel.
ReplyDeleteOh well. First things first. Got stuff done again this weekend.
Karen, I think you are right, comparing a 330 to 385 wouldn't get you anywhere, probably like comparing apples to oranges but you could get a feel of an inflatable.
ReplyDeleteIt's so much fun getting new kayaks, for sure. Glad you can try them at least a month before having to totally commit. Neat. The thing we have the most trouble with as well is clothes for hot and clothes for cold and everything in between. Those coats really take up the space! Haven't yet come up with a solution except hauling them around in the baby car when it's hot outside.
ReplyDeleteWe have a 26 foot trailer we keep parked at a campground in our local mountains. It was fine until our 9 grandkids came along. We need a bigger RV too! :-)
ReplyDeleteTake care and have a great week :-)
~Ron
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