There’s a brand new pattern that sees campgrounds turning into full-fledged RV communities with a lot of facilities, actions, and year-long stays.
We’re not speaking trailer parks like previous generations however actual communities catering to the wants of right now’s RVers.
We dig into this in Episode 435 of the RV Podcast, interviewing the proprietor of simply such a neighborhood in north central Florida, the place this pattern has significantly been constructing for a number of years now.
Additionally on this episode, RV Information, Ideas, and your questions concerning the RV Life-style.
To look at the video model of the podcast, click on the participant beneath:
You possibly can catch an audio-only model in your favourite podcast app or by clicking the participant beneath.
Interview: RV communities
Shawn Simms, proprietor of Ocala North RV Resort
Our visitor this week is Shawn Simms, proprietor of Ocala North RV Resort, within the coronary heart of Florida’s horse nation between Ocala and Gainesville. We met him a few weeks in the past as we overnighted there on a visit all the way down to cowl the Florida RV Supershow in Tampa.
We had been so impressed that we booked a return keep after the present ended.
The sprawling Ocala North RV Resort has a few hundred websites, a half dozen canine parks, a 24-hour employees individual on responsibility for these staying there, fiber optic cable Web wi-fi, quite a few paved pull-through spots, immaculate non-public restrooms, fashionable laundry amenities and a really busy exercise program providing issues to do every day of the week.
It was certainly an RV neighborhood, and that’s what we talked to Shawn about.
Ocala North RV Resort
His interview is entrance and middle within the podcast, and we urge you to observe or hear.
He’s growing a fair bigger RV neighborhood on close by Orange Lake which might be open subsequent yr.
Ocala North RV Resort will not be alone. There are quite a few different such developments throughout Florida, with many extra below improvement. The identical factor is going on in Arizona, Texas, Michigan, and plenty of different states, all catering to full-time or seasonal RVers and brief time period in a single day campers.
It’s an actual vivid spot within the tenting business that’s getting main traction because the post-COVID tenting increase reveals no indicators of letting up, and tenting spots have been onerous to search out for the previous few years.
What are a couple of extra RV Communities to take a look at?
Tell us within the feedback!
New Journey Tech – Weatherbug
This week within the new Journey Tech phase of the RV Podcast, drawn from the pages of NewTravelTech.com, our sister weblog celebrating the numerous methods know-how enhances the journey expertise, we speak about an ideal climate app for vacationers.
Now we all know, there are a gazillion of them on the market. And, reality be informed, we most likely have half a dozen on our smartphones and tablets.
However If you wish to know every little thing there may be to know concerning the climate, WeatherBug is the one you need. We’ve used it for years. In truth, it’s our foremost go-to climate app.
While you launch the app, it instantly shows present native climate, together with temperature, dew level, humidity, dawn, sundown, wind, stress, and any lively climate alerts for the realm.
What we actually like is that as you might be touring, it at all times updates your present climate for the place you occur to be proper then.
A toolbar alongside the highest allows you to swap from the present forecast to a extra detailed forecast, hourly forecast, or 7-day forecast.
A toolbar alongside the underside allows you to entry climate radar, reside webcams in your space, lightning strike info and even the pollen depend for you allergy victims.
It really works nice on each iOS and Android… and in your laptop computer as effectively.
Test it out at WeatherBug.com
RV NEWS OF THE WEEK
California Invoice goals to Make State Park no-shows pay
What number of occasions have you ever been at a hard-to-get-into campground and have become offended to see empty web site after empty web site due to no reveals?
Apparently, a California state assemblywoman has had sufficient of this too, and now she has launched a invoice that can penalize campers who make a reservation at a state-owned campground and by no means present up.
The purpose of the invoice is to make it simpler to get a tenting spot by offering a purpose for individuals to cancel their reservation if they’ll now not use it.
The invoice would solely apply to roughly 15,000 particular person campsites in California’s state park system, a few of that are reserved inside minutes of turning into obtainable. Presently, if individuals have a battle and resolve to not use their reservation, there may be little incentive to cancel it.
Underneath the proposed invoice campers would get extra of their reservation a refund for canceling as much as seven days upfront. No-shows would lose their complete reservation price, and those that constantly don’t present up could possibly be banned from making reservations within the state’s parks system
California deserts anticipating stunning wildflower “superbloom”
Superbloom prior to now.
Talking of California, all of the rain acquired in current months after years of drought means elements of the state are experiencing – or will expertise – a wildflower “superbloom” this yr which may be price altering your tenting plans to see.
Yellow, purple and white flowers are already starting to cowl elements of the dry areas of the state, with some state rangers saying the spectacular shows of colour appear to point out up in a single day.
The superbloom is attributable to rain after years of drought that left wildflower seeds dormant on the desert floor for years.
To see a press launch the California state parks system ready on the superbloom with suggestions of the place to go, the place to camp and when, click on right here.
Federal officers closing New Mexico’s Gila Wilderness to guests to allow them to shoot feral cattle damaging space
Federal officers have closed New Mexico’s Gila Wilderness within the Gila Nationwide Forest to guests for the following week, and on Thursday will start capturing feral cattle by helicopters.
Yep, you heard that proper.
The Gila Wilderness is dwelling to feral cows which apparently turned aggressive to human guests and have harmed the setting by grazing year-round and trampling stream banks, which causes erosion and different points.
Officers estimate there are about 150 feral cattle, and so they have decided the one resolution is to take away them lethally. So gunmen in helicopters will shoot them lifeless between Thursday and Sunday, leaving their our bodies to decompose, however eradicating the cattle’s stays if they’re close to water, mountaineering trails or different delicate spots.
Some New Mexico legislators and the cattlemen affiliation are towards this. Some environmentalists are for it.
In Mardi Gras nation RVers proceed the custom of tenting on the road in southern cities in Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama
It’s Mardi Gras time and for a lot of RVers in Louisiana, Alabama, and Mississippi, which means only one factor – time to take the RV out for some tenting.
Many southern cities close to the Gulf coast, like Lafayette, Louisiana, or Cellular, Alabama, have massive numbers of RVers camp close to parade routes or below freeway bridges throughout Mardi Gras season. The observe has change into custom creating “RV Cities” and competitors to get a spot is fierce.
To see for your self, here’s a story of RV revelers in Lafayette, tenting out for an extended weekend alongside town’s parade route, some RVs adorned in Mardi Gras style.
In Cellular, Alabama, for the previous 24 years RVers have been establishing camp below a freeway in what is named “RV Metropolis” for the city’s celebration. Folks want to order a spot forward of time and 118 are camped there this yr. (See story right here.)
All of the tales jogged my memory of a Mardi Gras campout we attended years in the past in Mississippi. To see the story, click on right here.
Texas state park closes Feb. 28 as land proprietor sells property for upper-end housing improvement
Texas campers had been saddened to study the state is closing Fairfield Lake State Park Feb. 28 as a result of the land proprietor offered the property to a personal developer who has plans to construct a gated, multi-million greenback housing neighborhood.
For about 50 years the Texas Parks and Wildlife Division has operated the state park, leasing land from Vistra Corp., which operated a coal plant there beforehand.
The state invested greater than $70 million within the state park over time, and in accordance with a press launch, tried to purchase it however its provide was declined.
The park, positioned about 95 miles south of Dallas, was a preferred fishing and tenting spot 83,000 individuals visited final yr that’s now gone. About 2,700 have already got reserved tenting reservations there that are also canceled.
Texas has 14 different state parks on leased land. To learn extra click on right here.
RV Questions of the week
QUESTION: Is it true that in case your RV is older than 10 yrs outdated that you may’t park it in loads of parks? -Grey
ANSWER: Sure, it’s. Although in our expertise, it is just enforced when the RV is in poor situation, has a lot of apparent defects, and appears to be on its final legs.
The RV Parks have that rule to allow them to exclude rigs that, of their thoughts, would replicate poorly on the looks of the park.
We have now heard of some who require would-be renters to ship a photograph of the RV if it’s older than 10 years for approval.
Some resorts don’t enable campervans or Class B RVs, irrespective of the situation. Others are for Class A motorcoaches solely.
However usually talking, at most campgrounds, in case your RV is well-maintained, clear, and in good mechanical good situation, you have to be fantastic at most parks.
QUESTION: Jennifer, what do you utilize for a vacuum cleaner in your RV? It at all times seems to be so clear and glowing and I’ve heard you speak about vacuuming it earlier than and after journeys. – Megan
ANSWER: We use a Shark cordless vacuum we purchased from Amazon. In truth, we prefer it a lot now we have purchased two of them. It’s a full peak vacuum and it may be simply become a handheld one.
It’s nice at vacuuming up sand, grime, mud and Bo hair!
The unit now we have is the Shark IX141 Pet Cordless Stick Vacuum and it comes with a lot of attachments. As I recall, we paid one thing like $130 or so for it.
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