Spending The Month in Florida
/ Kathryn HyslopSpending The Month in Florida
So we escaped the North for an entire month, well, Tim did. I only got to stay a couple weeks before I had to go back to work. We rented a cottage (park model trailer) at a camping resort in Zephyrhills. The resort had many amenities that we highly enjoyed, especially the pool and hot tub. The two weeks I was there it was warm and beautiful most days so we were able to take advantage of the pool. Tim enjoyed playing pool a few evenings a week as well as playing Euchre. We attempted shuffleboard and definitely need to practice that a bit to get better at it. We met some great people and enjoyed our stay. The rental unit wasn’t the greatest but next year we will have our own home with us. I can’t wait till this is our lifestyle!
Thanks for reading, next up will be some blog posts as we downsize.
That is, if Tim lets me get rid of anything.
I looked back at my posts this year and see that I have really slowed down on writing these. For that I apologize and I certainly hope to get better at it in the coming year. So what is my excuse? I could say that it has been a very busy summer but that would not really be accurate. We certainly were quite busy early on with working on the fifth wheel, but since we shipped it off for repairs, things definitely slowed down a bit. So if we weren’t busy, why haven’t I posted much?
After the fifth wheel was shipped out for repair work, we finally had some free time to relax and enjoy ourselves. We went into Pittsburgh for a few days and some more doctors appointments and then headed out for a family vacation on July 4th to Baker Run Hunting and Fishing Club. This is the camp that Tim has belonged to for years located in Potter County, PA. We try to get there at least once a year. This time, Katie, Rosie, Kim, Greg and our niece Jenny and her boyfriend Dan, all joined us at the camp.
What a stormy and rainy Spring we have had this year in Pennsylvania which has made it difficult to get out and do much or to get any work done on the RV. Yes ,we need to get work done on the Fifth Wheel again this Spring. When we arrived back at Shady Acres Campground where we left the Fifth Wheel for the winter, we discovered signs of rodent infestation again.
During the last couple of months in Florida, we really didn’t play tourist very much. We spent most of our time just enjoying life at the RV park and participating in many of their weekly activities. We enjoyed the daily exercise with the Walk Fit program on most weekday mornings and spent time walking Trent around the park so he got some exercise too. We also joined in on game nights a few times a week and enjoyed many of the potluck meals as well as Taco Tuesdays. Participation was a great way to get to know our neighbors and make friends at our winter home.
January ended up being a cool and damp month so we didn’t get out too much to visit places to write about. The best part of the month the week that our daughters, Katie and Kim and granddaughter Rosie came for a visit. We absolutely love that they were able to join us even if the weather didn’t cooperate. Of course, we loved that we got to spend a week with Rosie who is so much fun at 3 years old.
I hope this letter finds everyone doing well and enjoying the holiday season. We have certainly found some great places here in Florida to celebrate Christmas. Last weekend, we met Sue and Greg in Winter Garden for the Farmer’s Market. They have this huge market every Saturday and it is always enjoyable walking around and checking out the vendor booths. The main street in town reminds me of a Hallmark Movie - just the perfect street with lots of cute stores and great holiday decorations. In addition, the town has a variety of holiday events happening every weekend. Definitely a great place to get into the holiday spirit.
Wow, have we been busy since we arrived in Florida in late October! Our new annual site is quite spacious and deep so we have quite a bit of room. We have enjoyed being here from the first day and it feels like home. So far, we are happy with our decision to sign an annual lease and stay in one place for a period of time. We anticipate being here every year from November to early April. I guess we are now officially snowbirds, although we will travel a little bit in the summer to some of the states we have yet to visit. Still fulltime RVers, just doing it a little differently.
When we planned our trip south to Florida, we didn’t want to go south too quickly and risk needing to leave due to a hurricane. Unfortunately, fall seems to be the time of year that some pretty severe ones come through the south. So we decided to spend a few weeks in North Carolina and hopefully enjoy some beautiful fall weather.
It is hard to believe that it has been a little over 5 years since we started full time RVing. To be honest, I am not sure what date to use for this anniversary. We officially moved into the RV on Labor Day, 9/2/19 but I worked remotely for a couple more weeks and didn’t officially retire until 9/20/19. We stayed at the campground for another couple of weeks finalizing work on the RV before we started traveling on 10/8/19. So, am I a month late in celebrating or do I use the October date? Either way, in a way it seems like yesterday and in another way, it feels like we have always lived this way.

When we first discussed living full time in the RV, we thought that we would travel for 5 years and then settle down with a place both north and south. We started working towards that long term plan 2 years ago with the purchase of the motorhome. At that time, our thoughts were to leave the fifth wheel in Pennsylvania to be our summer home and then stay south in the winter with the motorhome and still travel in it spring and fall. The travel part worked well for two years, but leaving the fifth wheel did not.