Trial Run, Part Deux

Things to think about when choosing an RV park

1. Stay away from those with lots of permanent residents. At Shady Cove (our home for the last two days), there were several. One resident was so permanent he had a porch attached to his mobile home and a shed built beside it. I'd say he's staying put. Many of the permanent residents tied their dogs up outside or let them run loose. Try walking a dog on a leash with several small yippy dogs running around you in circles.

2. Consider parks that have shower rooms -- meaning rooms that can accommodate a normal sized human being. Having a shower in the RV is convenient but it is entirely too cramped. After two showers in Filbert, a room large enough to fit a tiled stall shower, a toilet, and a sink sounds like heaven. Many of the RV parks we are considering for the move west have just what we're looking for.

3. Amenities like free electric, WiFi, and cable are nice, but a bar or restaurant on site would be cool too. We're thinking of staying at one in Texas that has an on-site saloon. A couple drinks after a long ride -- we're planning 500-600 miles per day -- would be just the ticket.

4. Dog runs and/or fenced dog areas would be great too. No matter the type of harness, a hound dog will pull...and Nutella can do a number on anyone's back. We would love to have a safe area to let them off leash.

5. And finally, some nice scenery. We'll be arriving at most of the parks along our journey close to nightfall, but nevertheless, we'd like to see something...and have a pretty path or trail to walk the dogs on...even if it's only for the walk before we pack up and leave.

We managed to get out of Shady Cove earlier today with no incident. Derron disconnected everything and got all the hoses and pipes packed away. He did remember the TV antenna at the last second but fortunately before he passed under any tree limbs.

On an aside, we paid for the RV spot in cash. When I called as we neared Shady Cove, the manager said it was $33.00 per night. They did not take credit cards and she was on her way out for a while, so she said just to leave the cash in an envelope (available outside the office) and drop it in the drop box. We did. But later that evening I realized I made a math error - go figure. We had left $63 in the envelope, not $66. So we went to the office and brought this to the manager's attention. Her response..."Whatever you left was fine". Wish I'd known that...

Hazelnut and Nutella were very please to get home...as was Gracie. They all did great on the hour + drive home. They are very happy to be sleeping on the living room couches right now. Don't think we'll be able to get them up to do anything, anytime soon.