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Campground Review: Gamble Rogers Memorial State Recreation Area at Flagler Beach, Florida

Florida Beach Campground – Yes, life is good here in Florida!

Our latest campground review is for Gamble Rogers Memorial State Recreation Area in Flagler Beach, Florida.  We stayed at Gamble Rogers in February.  February in Florida, on the beach or near the beach, can get quite chilly.  In fact, it was one year ago this month that we took Ruff Road on his first excursion- a drive along A1A in this same area and we were freezing when we stopped for a beach walk.  This year, we were lucky and the weather was great!

This campground has a river side and a beach side.  We camped on the river side because that was all that was available when we booked.

Terra and Luna’s first beach trip!

Peace and Quiet

Why yes.  This campground was peaceful and quiet even though most or all sites were occupied.  The river bordered our campground area allowing peaceful nature walks or just chilling on the soft green grass or having a picnic riverside.  The beaches in this area are less crowded than the neighboring beaches to the south of us, Ormond Beach and Daytona Beach.

Peace and Quiet Rating:  5 stars

Things to Do

Well this is one of those parks that you just want to sit and be zen with the breeze blowing through the palms and beach side waves that you could even hear at times in the river side campground.  Watching the sunset or sunrise at the beach or the river offered some excellent photography moments or again to just soak it in.  There is a small nature trail that winds through the palms and trees and even along the river.  The beach is within walking distance to do some beach walking, shelling, or just chilling at the beach.

Gary was able to surf fish and he also fished in the river.  This park also has a boat ramp.  If you like to bike, A1A is a scenic highway along the Atlantic coast that passes through North Peninsula State Park.  I rode my bike on the sidewalk for miles with little stress of traffic or busy road crossings.  It was too windy while we were there to kayak but if I wanted to drive over to nearby Bulow Creek State Park, it would have been less windy than the river.  There are several state parks in this vicinity so you can plan to “park hop”.  You will find many activities listed on the Gamble Rogers website.  There is something for everyone.

https://www.floridastateparks.org/park/Gamble-Rogers

Things to Do Rating:  5 Stars

 

Biking A1A
Surf fishing

Bathrooms, Showers, and Laundry

We didn’t really have the need to use these but a quick glance proved they are clean.  Florida really does a nice job with their facilities and the upkeep.

Bathhouse Rating:  5 Stars

Dog Friendly

This one is important to us since our two kids, our pups, Terra and Luna are with us always.  Sadly, dogs are not allowed on Florida State Park beaches.  We could walk the trails and have them in the campground but no dogs at the beach.  Fortunately, there is a public beach right next to the park where we were able to take them.  It really wasn’t much further than the park beach and even had a parking area.  They enjoyed romping in the sand at the beach and romping at the river.  The trails are long enough to get a good walk in.  Wildlife is around because they loved sniffing everything along the trail.

Dog Friendly Rating:  4 stars (because no dogs on the beach!)

 

Always playing
It’s a feather!

Campsite

The campsites are nicely spread out so you have space.  There is no vegetation between sites and the beach side seemed to be a little tighter that the river side.  Sites on the inside of the river side loop were just in a grassy field with a few palms here and there.  Most sites on the outside of the  river side loop had nice wooded backdrops.  Either the road or the beach dunes were behind campsites on the beach side.  We loved our site because we were on the outside and we could access the nature trail through the woods right behind us.

Campsite Rating:  4 stars (personal preference, we like a little more woodsy)

Overall Rating:  4.6 out of 5 Stars, YES, we would stay here again!

Blanket to block the wind…and view of other pups

Funny Story…

I always say, if you don’t have an adventure, you don’t have a story.  Here’s our Gamble Rogers story.

My dear Gary (insert bless his heart here), just loves to fish.  On this trip, he decided to try his hand at surf fishing.  Of course, we would need to take the dogs with us so he planned on doing a little evening surf fishing.  He spent the day getting ready.  All bait, equipment, water, chairs…ready to go.  Our plan was to park in the beach side parking lot and walk to the dog gate that led to the dog beach because remember, no dogs on the park beach.  As I whizzed by on my bike earlier that day, the walk didn’t look that bad.

So we parked and headed out, with the dogs, with the chairs, with the bait, with the fishing gear- hands, shoulders, and backs were loaded!  We began the trek to the dog gate.  We walked and we walked.  I think Gary may have done a little cursing along the way.  When we got to the point that I thought had the gate, we realized that the campground went on and we were only halfway through it!  After much huffing and puffing and lugging, we finally made it to the dog gate and followed a little path to a parking area.  Gary wondered out loud, “Why didn’t we park here in the first place?”  I laughed and we went on down the stairs, across the sand to our fishing spot.

Then Gary remembered, he forgot his pvc pole holder.  Sooo, I volunteered to walk back across the sand, up the steps, across the parking area, through the dog gate, through the now glaringly large beach side camping area, back to the truck.  The plan was to just move the truck to the dog beach parking area.  I turned the key.  Nothing.  Dead battery.  I asked passerbys for a jump start but no one had cables and we didn’t either.  Ok.  So I locked the truck up and carried the pvc pole holder through the beach side camping area, through the gate, along the path, through the parking area, down the steps, across the sand and reported to Gary that the battery was dead.

We decided to go ahead and fish and get a jump from one of the campers or campground host.  It was a fun evening of Gary catching a few fish and the pups happily digging and playing in the sand.  We headed out a little after dark.  I sat with the gear and Gary headed back on the trek to the truck to try to get a jump.  He returned awhile later and had to call our insurance company for roadside assistance.  It appeared the campers were all tucked away in their rvs and the host’s lights were out.

So we loaded up with the last gear left and headed back to the truck on this long trek now in the dark.  When we reached the truck, I asked for the keys.  Gary said that he had left it open.  Well the wind had other ideas and had blown the door shut with the keys inside.  We had a spare in our RV, but the RV keys were in the truck also!  So another phone call to roadside assistance was made to request a locksmith to get into our truck.  I won’t lie, I had some choice words until I learned that this was covered and would not cost us money.  Then I was good.  I’m not sure about Gary.  He was tired from all of our trekking today.

We waited.  We just unfolded our chairs and had a sit under the night sky with the crashing waves sounding behind us.  This story has a good ending.  Our rescuer arrived, unlocked the door, jumped our truck in a matter of minutes.  During this wait time, Gary realized the battery was the original battery and most likely done.  We then had a nice little drive to the nearest auto parts store to buy a new battery just 15 minutes before closing.

And that, my friends, is a story that we will remember about this trip!

Fishing riverside…Luna just wants the bouy

Have you ever stayed at Gamble Rogers?  How was your experience?  Subscribe to hear more of our travels.

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Campground Review: Torreya State Park, Florida

Did you know that Florida has mountains?

Well, not real mountains but go hiking in Torreya State Park and you’ll feel the inclines and the declines.  This area boasts high bluffs, ravines, and clear creeks.  The park even has a waterfall!

Beautiful creek

Are you looking for some peace and quiet?

We stayed here for one week in January.  We have to say that this is the most peaceful and quiet campground we have ever visited.  The ranger said that winter is the best time to visit.  This is a small campground with 30 sites and a yurt.  The sites are large enough for larger rigs and provide some space so you aren’t walking out your door and right into your neighbor’s yard.  Campsites do have sparse vegetation between them but were nicely wooded behind them.

What can you do at Torreya State Park?

Walk the trails!  You won’t believe you are in Florida. There are over 14 miles of winding,  hilly trails with some technical parts and clear,  running streams.   You can also visit the historic Gregory House overlooking the Apalachicola River.  They offer tours of the house for a small fee.

I came to hike but the river is there for kayaking although you would have to find a boat ramp since there isn’t one in the park.  Also, for those of you who love to watch birds, this would be a good place for that as well.

Torreya Trail

Come Stocked and Prepared…

You won’t find stores close by.  You will have to drive a bit to get to the nearest civilization.  This is one thing we loved about this park.  It is isolated and you get the feeling you are in the wilderness.

What about the important stuff?  Bathrooms,  showers,  laundry…

In one word – Amazing.  The bathhouse was clean and provided privacy when showering.   As a bonus,  it is heated.   This was so welcomed on those chilly nights.

What about dogs?

Torreya State Park is dog friendly.  Dogs are allowed on the trails and in the campground, on leash  and under control of course.  Our two pups loved the hiking with cool splashes in the creeks we passed.

Puppies in a creek

5 Points of Review-

Overall we give this park 4.6 out of 5!  Yes, we will be back.

  1. Peace and Quiet *****
  2. Things to Do  ****
  3. Bathroom, Showers, Laundry  *****
  4. Dog Friendly  *****
  5. Campsite  *****
Ahhh!
Ahhh!

Check out this Florida State Park at this link:  https://www.floridastateparks.org/park/Torreya

Are you a hiker?  Check out the Florida Hikes link:  https://floridahikes.com/torreyatrail

Here is the video review of this campground from our You Tube Channel, Ruff Road RV Life:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5YR2_JpFXkw

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RV Life – Month 6

We have enjoyed our life in Ruff Road for six months now!  Incredible.  This month is special because it was one year ago that we took possession of Ruff Road.  In that time, we’ve enjoyed several trips and finally moved in full time in July 2017.

So how has it been after six months of living in an RV and not in our sticks and bricks home?

In one word- GREAT!  We don’t mind the space at all.  Even though we haven’t officially hit the road yet, we enjoy short trips and even our weekly dump run.  There is plenty to do in our county.  Gary continues to be involved in our church music ministry and has been writing some great music.  I have reunited with the Florida Trail Association in our area to hike and volunteer.  Of course, having family close by is a bonus right now.

Do we miss our sticks and bricks home?

No, we do not miss our sticks and bricks home.  My daughter and her family have done a beautiful job of decorating it and making it their own.  We don’t even think of it as ours anymore, it’s theirs.  We don’t miss the upkeep and the constant cleaning that went with a larger home or all the stuff that went with it.  Truthfully, we only lived in our bedroom, kitchen, and bathroom anyway.  As the children left home, the rest of the rooms were just there and prone to collect clutter.

How are RVs and stick/brick homes similar?  Different?

I thought about what it was like before living in Ruff Road.  Much of what we do in Ruff Road is similar to what we did in our house.  Rearranging, decorating, purging, cleaning, and organizing took place in both homes, however in Ruff Road it is on a much smaller level which is nice!  Rearranging and organizing seems to be the two that we have worked on the most as we continue to “squeeze” into our new space.  Most recently, we removed the pedestal table from in front of the couch.  We had contemplated this for some time but where would we eat or work?  We finally had enough and bravely unbolted it from the floor.  We put our long rug over the area in front of the couch and now use the top of one of the dog crates for our table.  No problems!  We talked about adding a hinged wooden table top for more flexibility but for now, this works!

Before
After

 

The biggest difference between life in a house and life in an RV, is that everything in the RV is magnified due to the smaller space.  For example, dirt gathers more easily in the small space of an RV vs the larger space a house offers.  Things can accumulate more in a house but in an RV, the clutter becomes screamingly evident and you have to deal with it.  In the house, if I wasn’t sure about tossing or donating something, I’d put it away in a closet to decide later.  In the RV, space is limited so this is not an option.  Even as I write this and everything is put away, we are aware that we have too much on board with us and we have a little RV purging to do.  We have too many clothes.  The dogs have too many toys.  We have too many linens.  So we’ll whittle these things down.  Finally, we don’t have the anchor of a large yard to maintain.  Anywhere is our yard.  This was more freeing for me than I realized and there are no arguments from Gary about this.  Here’s another bonus:  We interact more in an RV.  We like that.  If we need our space, we have outside, one can go to the bedroom or to the coach area.

 

What has happened this month?

If you read our previous post, we sadly said good-bye to one of our ruffs, our 15 year old mini poodle Phoebe.  We miss her and she will always be in our hearts.

We attended the Florida RV Super Show in Tampa, Florida.  This event is huge featuring many vendors, seminars, RV types, models and manufacturers.  You can view the bare chassis frames that are on display and learn how to maintain your generator.  If you are exploring the RV lifestyle, attending an large RV show like this one provides the opportunity to see everything from pop-ups to large class A coaches and everything in between.  Of course, if you are already RVing, you can see what’s new and how space is used in the different units.  Also, I’m sure the dealers were looking to make a deal with new owners and with those willing to trade in their current RV.  We spent most of our time looking at the vendor stations and attending seminars.  We especially appreciated the seminar about maintaining your generator and diesel engine.  We also attended a couple of seminars for RV newbies and full-timers which was helpful.  If we were going to look at RVs as well, we would have needed a second day which was included in our ticket.  Visitors with RVs could stay on the site with no hook-ups for a fee.  Learn more about RVing in Florida by the group that sponsored this event, the Florida RV Trade Association at http://www.frvta.org.

What RV supplies did we purchase this month?

As trivial as it might sound, we were in the market for new pillows so we picked up two bamboo pillows at the Florida RV Supershow.  They are super soft but can be used to prop up so you can read or work.  Also, we found some stick on lights for a few of our dimly lit cabinets and bins.  These were our two Florida RV Supershow purchases.

Other purchases were:

DEF (Diesel Exhaust Fluid):  This is required for all diesel coaches to ensure that the exhaust from the engine is environmentally friendly.

Leveling Blocks:  These are long overdue but we’ve only had one major problem not having them.  Wood planks from a nearby dumpster provided the solution.  In all other cases, we were able to maneuver the coach so all four tires were firmly on the ground.

Tank Tech Microbials:  Gary says this is like RidX on steroids.  This is the second month we have used this to minimize tank odor and ensure the right bugs are living in our tank to work on decomposition.  All it takes is two ounces per dump.  After using this product, we don’t have the pungent odor when our black tank is almost full and improves our tank’s health.

What’s next?

Watch for a link to be posted soon for our newly launched Ruff Road RV Life You Tube Channel.

Also, coming soon-

  • What are our plans for 2018?
  • Torreya State Park Review

Share to help grow our community and subscribe to be notified of new content.  Comment to share your knowledge, ask questions, or recommend topics.

 

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How Do You Say Goodbye to Your Pet?

How DO you say goodbye to your pet?  If you are a pet lover and have been for awhile, you have most likely crossed this bridge.  We have.  More times than we care to count in our years on this earth.  However, each time is different.  You pray that your beloved pet will reach a ripe old age and go to sleep and pass peacefully on their own.  This happens.  It did with the majority of our past dogs.  What do you do when it doesn’t work out that way?  How do you know when it’s time to make the decision to say good bye to your pet, put them at peace, with the help of a veterinarian?

This last week, we had to make that dreaded decision for our companion of 15 years, our miniature poodle, Phoebe.  Phoebe was diagnosed with a nose tumor last fall.  We knew then that there was no viable treatment for her, especially given her age.  Still, she was perky and continued to prance behind her favorite, Gary, and put our other two dogs in their place.  This went on for many weeks.  However, her decline was evident in little ways everyday.  Our veterinarian told us we would “know” when it was time.

There were times that it seemed like she might be improving, but these were short lived.  Some days we wondered if she would ever wake up, then she would want to eat without her appetite pill and follow Gary around the yard.  There were no easy answers.  How did we come to this decision then?  It’s hard when your pet, the one who has been with you for 15 years, looks you in the eye, tracks your every movement, and curls up next to you at night.  Ultimately, we knew what we had to do and it hurt.  There were tears from both of us and our family.  But it was time.  She went peacefully.  We put her puppy toy, Sharky, in her box along with her soft blanket.  We cried.  We cried some more.

We wanted to share our considerations for our choice.  We never discussed this in front of Phoebe.  Animals are smart.  Phoebe was especially smart.  When we talked about her future, it was in private.

Here are our considerations for our choice:

  1. Were we keeping her with us for us …or for her?
  2. What was her quality of life?
  3. Was she in pain?
  4. Would she get better?
  5. What did our gut say?
  6. What did her eyes say?

My hope is that no one or no animal suffers, but in this world of yin and yang, there is life and death. We do believe that life goes on beyond death and that our Phoebe is prancing and playing on the other side of the Rainbow Bridge.

 

 

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Meet the Big Dogs, Terra and Luna

If you are reading this, you are most likely a pet lover.  Isn’t it interesting how each individual animal has their own unique personality.  Our two girls are no exception.  They are sisters but Terra, the lighter colored one, is playful and just a little bit goofy.  Whenever I fuss at Luna, I can expect Terra to run over and give me licks to make it better.  Luna, on the other hand, is sneaky and watches to see when my back is turned.  She has to be redirected, a lot.  Still, she is very loving and wants us to rub her forever.  In this video clip, Luna had just lured Terra away from the chair only to steal it for herself.  Terra just makes the best of it by trying to lay standing up on the ottoman.  This scenario plays out several times a day.

Stay tuned for more Terra and Luna laughs!

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Ruff Road RV Life Resources

Our Ruff Road RV Life Resources Page has been updated. Check it out!

http://ruffroadrvlife.com/resources/

You will find a list of items that we purchased or brought from our house to outfit Ruff Road.  Remember, I am an overthinker so all of these items have been researched and pondered before hitting BUY.  We have reflected honestly about them and will update as we add new purchases.  Of course, this list doesn’t reflect all of the items from our hobbies that we had on hand such as guitars, speakers, mini sewing machine, art supplies, backpacking gear, bicycling gear, kayaking gear…but we’ve made room for these and did not include them on our list.

Your list will look different based on your RV, your preferences and needs.  Use this, or any list, as a guide.  It might jog your memory regarding something you may have forgotten about or that you were not aware that you needed.  We looked at multiple lists found on the internet and listened to countless vlogs to help us with our plan to set up Ruff Road.  We then made our own list prioritizing items we would need to purchase first.  We took it step by step, one bite at a time.  Little by little, our RV turned into a home.

We hope you find these resources helpful.  Share some of your helpful resources.  Was there anything that you discovered you needed but didn’t have?  Was there anything you purchased thinking that you needed it only to find out you didn’t afterall?  Comment, subscribe and share.  We are looking forward to building this community.  Thank you to our subscribers.  

 

 

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RV Life – Month 5

Happy Thanksgiving and Merry Christmas!

This is our first holiday in Ruff Road.  It was almost one year ago that this dream began.  My Facebook timehop popped up with One Year Ago today…my friend and I were taking pictures of RVs at a local dealership.  This time last year, we had no idea we would be “looking at freedom” everyday.  So here are our tweaks, tips, and trials at Month 5, as well as some general observations.

General Observations:

  • It’s cold even in Florida, but Ruff Road has stayed warm and cozy.  Temps were chilly, but not freezing.  Stay tuned for Month 6 reflection to see how we’ll do in much chillier weather.  However, so far so good.
  • When you retire, you don’t have to be the one to cook and host.  We enjoyed going up to the big house and eating our Thanksgiving feast with my daughter and her family.
  • This leads me to another observation.  We love being with family.  What a difference it makes when the cloud of a stressful job is not hanging over your head and you can enjoy your family mornings, middays or afternoons.  This is something that was difficult for us to find time to do in our past life.  We know not everyone reading this is retired.  We were there.  My advice that I tried to follow while I was working was to work towards a work/ home balance.  It was an ongoing goal.  Sometimes I was really good at it and sometimes work just took over.  However, as long as you set it as a goal, your chance of success are higher than if you don’t.

    • Christmas with the family in St. Augustine, Florida
  • One more observation, a retirement bonus that I noticed.  Christmas shopping and events were so freeing because I didn’t have the work load I did in past years.  My budget was smaller-retirement budget-but we all still had a great Christmas and I loved looking at freedom this time of year.

Tips:

  • Make a plan to balance work and home.  Hang in there and know that the day will come when you can look at freedom everyday.
  • Need space?  Rethink it.  Even though we feel like we have ample room here, the use of space needed to be improved.  I was using the table for an office but that meant it was always cluttered with the computer and papers.  We were also busy digitizing home videos (part of our downsizing process) and the video and second computer were always on our limited counter space along with copied and to copy VHS tapes.  Clutter, everywhere!  We also observed that the passenger chair, when turned around toward the living room served mostly as a catch all as you came through the door- ugh, more clutter.  What was our solution?  We have a very roomy cab area.  There is a small table next to the passenger chair and the dashboard area is quite large.  I already had office supplies and photography equipment stored there, so…naturally this became our office.  We left the passenger chair turned forward and the space is quite roomy to work in.  We were also able to gain some room by moving one of the dog crates to right behind the passenger chair giving a more closed off look to the space.  We like it.  Expect that tweaking space and rearranging will be the norm when you begin RV living.
  • Protect your RV floors.  We made a huge mistake when we moved in.  We were leaving behind ceramic tile floors that seemed to be indestructible no matter what you pushed across them.  Ruff Road has laminate tiles.  We now know, they will scratch easily.  When we moved in we took baskets, boxes, and crates of belongings to Ruff Road and, like an assembly line, shoved them in the door and pushed them inside to add more.  All of this pushing of weighted items put fine scratches all over our floors.  You can’t really tell unless you are on the floor so that’s the good news.  Then I wondered, were they there all along?  No, I think we did it.  To further protect our floors, we stopped sliding things on them.  The dog crates rest on rugs.  In addition, we put felt on the bottom of our ottoman and free standing chair.  Lesson learned.

Tips relating to dogs:

  • Keep nails trimmed.  We should know this but we let it slip.  Our girls’ nails grow long and sharp if not trimmed.  We wish we were part of the group of folks who know how to do this, but we aren’t- yet.  Our dogs’ nail trimmings require a trip to the vet after a calming pill.  They are overdue and our dash paid the price.  We now have one little pinhole from an excited Terra who jumped up before she could be stopped.
  • Set boundaries for pets.  This should go without saying but…sometimes this doesn’t happen.  Our girls are allowed in the driver and passenger chairs, the ottoman, or the floor.  They are not allowed on the couch or the bed.  They also know to “stay” when we are coming and going through the door.  Consistency is the key.  Make sure both pet parents are on the same page.  If one allows a rule to be broken, pets become confused and, like children, will push their limits.
  • Use Velcro to keep covers on furniture.  When we purchased our RV, the coach seats were already starting to flake.  We keep them covered with blankets and that works well.  Our ottoman is looking a little worn as well so it is covered with a quilted piece of fabric.  I used Velcro to attach the fabric to the ottoman.  I plan to use Velcro to help keep blankets on the coach chairs.  I’ll let you know how that works out.  Until then, we will just rearrange them after the pups mess them up.

What are some trials we’ve had this month?

  • Our onboard water tank filled up twice this month.  The first time water was actually leaking out of the fill tank area.  We thought we had the switch flipped over to city water, but it still happened twice.  After draining the tank twice and rechecking, we haven’t had anymore issues.  Maybe it wasn’t all the way over.  It’s still a mystery.
  • This is tragic!  We purchased a Powilling Dehumidifier from Amazon to take care of excess moisture in the air.  It rode on the built in side table next to the couch.  We had no problem in all of our travels.  However, on one fateful day, as we turned into our driveway, it took a tumble and fell to the floor never to work again.  We recommend this unit.  It has worked great for us.

We are just days away from our first full time RV Christmas.  The tree is up.  The lights are hung.  We are warm and cozy and happy.  Peace to everyone.

 

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RV Life – Month 4

I moved out!

That’s right!  I moved out of Ruff Road.  We had scheduled some warranty work to be done at Tampa Lazy Days on November 4th.  Our list of needed repairs were the leaking AC in the rain, refrigerator not cooling and freezing up, toilet ring would not keep water in the bowl even though we had used the lubricant, our antennae handle just fell off, possible air leak in the brakes, and our propane tank gauge did not work.  So the girls, Phoebe, Terra, and Luna, and I moved out into the “big house” while Gary headed south to Tampa for our appointment.  Lazy Days allowed him to stay in the RV at night.  This should have been simple but we learned that the refrigeration tech only comes once a week on Tuesday.  The scheduling department scheduled us for Wednesday so that delayed the refrigerator even being looked at for one week.  All in all, Gary was gone November 1st – November 17th.  While we loved the buying experience at Lazy Days, we didn’t love the service there.  They did repair the items on our list and our warranty was effective in keeping these costs down.  Some things that had to be fixed weren’t covered.  It didn’t cover the roof reseal, AC gaskets, or the AC fan motor.  It did cover all the other items so all in all, not bad.

Lesson learned

  • Before you go to a repair shop, make sure your pantry is fully stocked.  We intended to shop but ran out of time.  Gary was stuck there without a car.  There was a gas station nearby, Cracker Barrel, and Lazy Days restaurants.  He wished he had food in the pantry.
  • Plan on it taking longer than you expect.  That seems to be the norm from what others have said.  I’m sure there are exceptions and it depends on what needs to be fixed.  I’ve also heard nightmare stories of it taking weeks or months to have repairs completed.
  • Don’t expect buyer loyalty.  We did and when Gary arrived, he was just another person.  We emailed with no response.  We did let the service manager know our concerns regarding the service.  Of course, you never complain without a solution.  Here are ours:

If the service volume is high, extend the service hours.

Have a plan for repairs.

Don’t allow outside vendors to dictate their work schedule.

Overnight parts

It wasn’t all bad.

Gary had electric, water, and dump access while there.  Lazy Days is a beautiful RV Park and RV dealership.  Gary walked the grounds and even did some RV shopping.  He is loving those 5th wheels.  I’m glad they finished the repairs or he might have traded Ruff Road for a 5th wheel!  Another bonus is he attended several RV seminars while there and learned about RV tanks and electrical systems.

Happy Holidays are coming!

While he was away, my granddaughters and I decorated the “big house” for Christmas.  We also had a sweet sixteen birthday party for my granddaughter.  All of this was so much fun and I enjoyed not stressing about work and just enjoying this time with family.

Tips:

  • Walmart battery operated lights are inexpensive and have a timer.  This works great for RVs.
Battery operated lights from Walmart
  • Don’t leave your vents open if you don’t have a vent cover.  It rained.  It poured.  It flooded.  Good thing I had my camping towel to mop it up.

When are we EVER going to leave?

You may be wondering when and if we are ever going to “hit the road”.  There have been a couple of hiccups that delayed us leaving.  The major one is it took a long time to get rid of our stuff.  Once October passed, neither one of us really wanted to venture north of where we are.  We love the warmer weather, plus we wanted to be home for the holidays.  We do have some trips planned for 2018.  We are looking forward to venturing away for awhile.  So stay tuned, it’s in the works.

Do you have any RV repair stories?  Comment and share what you learned from the process.

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RV Life- Month 3

We took a trip!

Ok, well we spent the night at Silver Springs State Park with the grandgirls.  It wasn’t far to travel.  Can you believe their 50 amp service didn’t work and we had to use 30 amp?  Oh well.  We are used to it.  We stayed at Site #38.  It is a very large, private site.  We did this spur of the moment and got a site as a walk in.  This park usually stays booked up.  Sundays and Mondays are good days to find a site the ranger said.  All of the sites here are large and somewhat private.  You can see your fellow campers but the size of the sites adds to the privacy.  You are guaranteed to see deer here either on the winding drive to the campground or on one of the many trails here.  You can even walk to the Silver River which flows out of Silver Springs.  Silver Springs has been the site of many movies including Tarzan.  There are monkeys in the area around Silver Springs.  They are cute to watch but don’t engage them.  You can hike from the camping area to the main area of Silver Springs State Park.  The attraction is now run by the state so it only costs $2.00 to visit per person.  It is a beautiful, scenic park along the springs and river.  You can launch your kayak from the kayak launch which costs $4.00 per vessel.  Camping costs $24.00 per night, plus tax, plus $6.70 reservation fee.  The park also has cabins you can rent and a Florida museum you can visit for $2.00 per person.  Here is a link to learn more:  https://www.floridastateparks.org/park/Silver-Springs

Tip:  Organization-

I mentioned this before but it’s so important.  Have a routine.  It’s ok to change it but if you have a plan, things won’t fall through the cracks.  For example, we officially made Monday our dump day instead of waiting until we are praying to get to dump in time.  Monday is also our laundry day.

We can’t get the RV out of the yard!

Our Monday dump day works great unless work is being done on your road.  A sewage line was being installed in our neighbor’s yard and our long driveway had piles of dirt and deep ditches.  It was an adventure trying to get out.  Some days, we couldn’t get out at all.  The longest we went between dumps was ten days.  We were wringing our hands that week.

Welcome to Ruff Road RV Life.

Ruff Road RV Life was truly born this month.  We had been planning and talking but downsizing consumed our time.  This month we began filming for our You Tube channel and began developing this site.

RV Upgrades this month- Recommendations

Remember my backpacking gear problem?  We installed heavy duty command hooks for my backpack, the pups’ backpack and my jackets.  I need a lot of them because I am always freezing.  We added command hooks by the door to hang our shoes.  Finally, we added his and her command hooks to the bathroom door because the one that was there just wasn’t enough.  We finally purchased a much needed new computer this month.  It is my first Asus and so far I love it.  We have an on board vacuum cleaner but I used the Rug Rat attachment this time and I recommend it to anyone who has dogs that shed.

Missed my October Hike

My goal was to knock off another section of the Appalachian Trail in October.  It didn’t happen, there were just too many obligations and we could not get away.  I was sad this didn’t happen.  The mountains are so beautiful in October.  I’ll see them again though.  In fact, I will be completing the AT in 2018 heading out mid April.  I am so excited to hike again.  I do love the mountains!

Phoebe Update

Our girl is still not well.  She is on antibiotics three times a day and has to take an appetite enhancer to eat.  She seems better but is still sick.  We are realizing that she most likely has a nose tumor.  According to our vet, she has all of the symptoms and there is nothing that can be done.  She is happy and comfortable.  We will love our Phoebe girl until she joins our Pixie.  Pixie left us quite suddenly last October.  Pixie was a little, white, long haired terrier and only seven when she passed.  I love dogs so much.  I hate their limited lifespans.

Reflection -We are still not bored!

Well it has been three months and we are never bored.  It is amazing how busy you stay when you are retired.  I am the type of person who always needs to be doing something but I am finding it hard to find time for my recreational activities!  Yes, we are still dealing with “stuff” which now means more EBAY and some Marketplace time.  It does take time to clean items up, take pictures, and post.  Still, it’s fun to see these things go to a new home and to be used again.

At this point, we have settled in to our new RV life.  My favorite time of the day is in the morning.  We sit in our cozy  Ruff Road or even outside and sip our morning coffee.  I didn’t even know this was in my future this time last year.  We hadn’t even made our final retirement plans.  Anything can happen.  Believe it.  Blessings.

Silver Springs State Park Site 38
Mak and Phoebe
Ruff Road Silver Springs State Park

 

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RV Life – Month 2

It’s been 2 months!  Here are some wonderings, lessons learned, and tips.

We wondered:  Water drips through our AC in a heavy rain.  Why?  We have since had the gaskets redone and roof resealed.  No more problems.

We wondered:  Why do we have to defrost our residential fridge every seven to ten days?  The refrigerator would get warmer and warmer until this was done.  Update:  It has been fixed finally.  It never worked right but we had to use our current warranty to get it fixed.

We wondered:  What’s wrong with our poodle, Phoebe?  She’s struggling to breath out of her nose and has a nasal discharge.  She was diagnosed with pneumonia and on meds.  She is 15 years old and such a good old girl.  I hate to see her uncomfortable.

Lesson learned:  Shop around to dump.  We found a cheaper and nicer place to dump open 24 hours a day.  It’s the Petro Truck Stop!

Lesson learned:  Be careful what’s stored in the basements.  Moisture can get to the contents if you life in a humid, moist climate and they are not stored in proper containers.  My backpacking equipment became moldy down below so I rearranged and made room for it in the bedroom.  It works!

Tip:  We tried the GEO method for our black tank.  It helped.  What is the GEO method?  Just google GEO method for RVs and you will find a plethora of articles and You Tube how to videos.  It’s really simple.  You dump 1 cup of Calgon Water Softener and 1 cup of Dawn Dishwashing detergent down the toilet into your black tank after you dump.  You don’t need to do it every dump. It did keep the tank fresher and our sensors worked better.

Tip:  If you have an onboard washer and dryer, do small loads everyday.  They are small and don’t hold much.

Tip:  Buy a grass mat.  Less dirt comes in on little paws and feet.

Tip:  Command strips RULE!  Ruff Road feels so homey with pictures on the walls.

Dog Tip:  If you have a dog that pulls, front hook harnesses work the best.  I’ve also used the Gentle Leader Head Collar.  We also successfully used the Easy Walk Harness.  Both of these tend to cause chafing.  I sewed felt on the Easy Walk and that has helped.  We retired the Gentle Leaders in favor of the harnesses.  We recently ordered Ruffwear harnesses but they are a little big so less effective.  I called the company and they said they should work ok even though a little large.  The girls were still growing so I was hopeful they would fill them out.  They haven’t  The harnesses should have been sent back but we didn’t do it.  That, I suppose, is a lesson learned.

We survived:  Hurricane Irma came right through our area and we sustained no damage.  We were able to provide a place for our youngest son to stay since his home had no electricity.  See how we prepped for this storm in my previous post.

http://ruffroadrvlife.com/2017/12/28/hurricane-prep-and-finding-a-schedule/

Month 2- done.  We are moving on to Month 3!

Phoebe
Easy Walk Harnesses are great with young husky mix dogs.