RV travels around the USA
We are now at our destination for the winter months in the small city of New Port Richey (NPV). It has a population of 17,000 people and is about an hour north of Tampa and includes our RV park – Orchid Lake RV Resort (OLRVR). I’ll post something on the park at a later date. This year we stay at one place for almost four months instead of park hopping every month. We’ll see how that works having a base of operations instead of many areas of exploration.
And we’re off! It does feel good to get back on the road again to Florida. Especially as the Virginia weather forecast has some wintery reminders on the way. Retirement is good to have the time to spend three plus months in Florida instead of the week or two at Christmas back when I was working. Hard to imagine that it is coming up five years now since retirement.
I’m not absolutely sure that “wintering” is a valid verb, but if not it should be. It is the location that we chose to spend the winter. But, now we are faced with making a change to the plan we made back in the springtime. Yes, it seems that so much today is in some state of turmoil that we are constantly required to make changes. And I’m usually quite acceptable to change if it is for the better. Our wintering plan changes are…
It has been a month since my last blog update. We have been quite busy with the new “sticks and bricks” house. Many changes and updates are now completed or else will be done soon. Such is the life when buying an older home. I find that doing many of these chores is very enjoyable, but after three months with very little time off, we are both ready for a break. Besides that it is getting cold in Virginia and we have already gotten two small snowfalls! Vacation time!
It seems like it has been a long time since my last blog update – and it has been! There have been many activities and achievements and there has also been some long periods of not much of anything. This update will try to summarize all the main events of the last month. At the top of the list is we now have a new (to us) home to use as our home base for continued RV travels. Plus some other stuff to include as well.
One day last week, I took the car out to top off the gas tank with some of this cheap fuel. It only took about $7 worth as we are rarely driving during this stay at home order. Groceries are all delivered right to our door at the RV park. Pat has become very good at the Publix and Walmart online ordering. This just may be the way of the future.
To keep the battery charged, I decided to drive the 14 miles straight north on US-27 to Clermont and take a closer look at the Citrus Tower. We have driven by it many times, but never stopped to check it out when it was open. Alas, it is closed along with all the other non essential businesses in Florida.
The tower is just off the highway and rises up to 226 feet tall (equivalent of 22 stories). You can see it for miles going in either direction as it is also located on top of a small hill.
From their website, here is a full description: One of Florida’s first “attractions,” the Citrus Tower was built in 1956 on one of the highest hills in Florida’s ridge section. The original plans specified a tower 75 feet high, but when completed, the Citrus Tower rose to a lofty height of 226 feet .
The Citrus Tower stands unrivaled as a majestic and monumental tribute to Central Florida’s famed citrus industry and its lush subtropical groves. With the area’s changing economic climate, the Tower serves as a beacon guiding a burgeoning new business and population base to the scenic South Lake County region.
The glass-enclosed observation deck allows visitors to enjoy the panoramic view of the rolling hills of Florida’s ridge section and hundreds of spring-fed lakes in the surrounding 8-county area.
The cost is $10 to take a tour and may include the elevator to the top. We may have to check it out if it opens before we leave in mid-June. Then again riding a small elevator up 22 floors with some strangers may not be the best idea right now. Maybe a view from a distance is best.
Stay safe, take care and God bless.
I thought it would be interesting to take a virtual RV trip to our previously planned summer destinations. While I was staying in and hunkering down. These were our 2020 plans before we cancelled the entire summer due to the lockdown. So grab a beverage and fasten your seatbelt as we take our summer trip. Our stops will be to Virginia, Indiana, Michigan, Wisconsin, Illinois, Missouri, Tennessee, Mississippi, Louisiana, and Texas. The virtual trip should have some great fuel mileage!
There is so much in the current news about the latest Coronavirus and most of it is probably the normal hype that is associated with these health issues. I’ve heard a wide variation as to how people are going to prepare and change their behavior during this time. As we are actively making our spring/summer/fall RV travel plans, I thought it would be prudent to do a little research and then make a decision if we need to modify our plans.
We are back to the 5th wheel coach after ten days of vacationing aboard a cruise and a quick trip to Key West. It was a great time and we thoroughly enjoyed, but it is always nice to return back home. Rarely leaving the RV, it was nice to take a decent trip away from our “home.” We are back to RVing, in Cocoa, Florida!
Now that we have been on the full time RV travel journey for two and a half years, I decided to get back into the accountant mode and do a little financial analysis. No, not going back to work again. Just getting off the bench for a brief few minutes to do a checkup on our spending rate. Maybe by sharing we can help others planning an RV life, just as many others helped us. So, here’s a quick update on our RV travel expenses for almost two years.