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Morning Cup Of Coffee And Weather

Sweeney said:
I know my own private campground is what I want to do too! Your back yard is idyllic for that :)




The RV bubble is unsustainable. I follow Alan Warren (long time industry expert) and he's been voicing concerns about this for a long time. He has had a particular concern about first-time buyers who are getting taken in by the "$5 a day" promises of certain stores that are all about the world of camping.

These poor souls (I know a couple of them) might have bought their first and last rig already. Thats the sad part...short term high profits over long term repeat customers.

Forgotten is depreciation, $100 gas fillups, $80 reservation, and the ongoing cost of maintenance and repairs --- which I can tell you most new owners know nothing about.

Now that the realities of inflation are becoming known its understandable why people aren't spending $hundreds for a 2 night stay.

Will we have better sight pickin's in the future? I think that's a safe bet.
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My Class A is more like a $450 fillup. But then it will take me a thousand miles. Most newbies think an RV is a recreation vehicle however it really is short for repair vehicle.
 
Van_and_Terri said:
Nothing like being woke-up at 3am with an inoperative transfer switch! One of many!
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Tour 931 said:
My Class A is more like a $450 fillup. But then it will take me a thousand miles. Most newbies think an RV is a recreation vehicle however it really is short for repair vehicle.
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My class A had a 75-gallon tank with gasoline. I'd see more in the 500-600 range. Oh yeah, 9MPG Stinks! Although with an F150 or 250 pulling a light bumper pull, you'll still only get around 10-11 mpg, that's what I was getting with my Ecoboost 150 pulling Grand Design 2800BH.

I was also thinking of just maintenance -- wheel bearings, slides, toppers, holding tanks, sensors, weather seals, tires, Roof membranes etc. just taking care of those as a part of routine is bad enough. Especially roof issues. Horror stories lurk there!
 
Almost the weekend! I'm just staying local, how about you? My camp site has been selected and paid for. Rght next to a "Class D" municipal airport. so with any luck, there will be a lot of activity there. :D I'm taking a vacation day tomorrow, nice 4 day weekend. Weather looks OK, with any luck cool enough for a warm fire.

Where are you going?
 
Sweeney said:
Almost the weekend! I'm just staying local, how about you? My camp site has been selected and paid for. Rght next to a "Class D" municipal airport. so with any luck, there will be a lot of activity there. :D I'm taking a vacation day tomorrow, nice 4 day weekend. Weather looks OK, with any luck cool enough for a warm fire.

Where are you going?
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We are headed out to Jetty Park at Port Canerval on Tuesday for 5 nights. Unfortunately no rocket launches are scheduled during our stay. Found a cancellation during the 4th of July holidays at Anastasia State Park at St. Augustine.
 
Van_and_Terri said:
We are headed out to Jetty Park at Port Canerval on Tuesday for 5 nights. Unfortunately no rocket launches are scheduled during our stay. Found a cancellation during the 4th of July holidays at Anastasia State Park at St. Augustine.
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V&T, are you seeing more sites opening up down there? I'm really surprised how (until we get to Labor Day) how many open sites are available.....

I have only made a pass-through St Augustine --- I really want to spend some time there, it pretty amazing...
 
Sweeney said:
V&T, are you seeing more sites opening up down there? I'm really surprised how (until we get to Labor Day) how many open sites are available.....

I have only made a pass-through St Augustine --- I really want to spend some time there, it pretty amazing...
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The sites open up in early April and start filling up again in early October. January 1, 2024 Fl residents can reserve 11 months out on State Parks. Nonresidents will be able to reserve sites 10 months out. A lot of snowbirds aren’t happy. There are some great County Parks such as Moss Park near Orlando which many people don’t know about, and they offer a much shorter period to make reservations. We are seeing a lot of cancellations which I pickup with Wanderinglabs.com. ( keep it a secret). lol
 
Van_and_Terri said:
The sites open up in early April and start filling up again in early October. January 1, 2024 Fl residents can reserve 11 months out on State Parks. Nonresidents will be able to reserve sites 10 months out. A lot of snowbirds aren’t happy. There are some great County Parks such as Moss Park near Orlando which many people don’t know about, and they offer a much shorter period to make reservations. We are seeing a lot of cancellations which I pickup with Wanderinglabs.com. ( keep it a secret). lol
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Thats a good tip! Bookmarked for later...
Slight advantage to FL residents seems fair: their taxes pay part of the State Parks costs, no?
I stay sometimes on military bases campgrounds. Those typically give first crack to active duty, vs retired, which seems fair to me.

I'm guessing we'll see more availability this season post-covid back to work trend, and the economic slowdown in general and in RV biz, and use-age with gas so high.

We shall see!
PS: we hope to be FL residents soon and do "the reverse snowbird" away from sticky muggy summer weather by going north in the CI...;)
 
You mentioned Moss Park near Orlando as a county park that offers a shorter reservation period. County parks often have different policies and reservation systems than state parks. It's beneficial to explore lesser-known parks like Moss Park, as they may provide a viable alternative for those seeking available campsites without the same reservation time constraints mlsdev.com/blog/machine-learning-in-ecommerce. Machine learning algorithms can analyze transactional data and identify patterns indicative of fraudulent activities, such as credit card fraud or account hijacking. This helps e-commerce platforms detect and prevent fraudulent transactions, enhancing security and protecting businesses and customers.
 
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ericpons said:
You mentioned Moss Park near Orlando as a county park that offers a shorter reservation period. County parks often have different policies and reservation systems than state parks. It's beneficial to explore lesser-known parks like Moss Park, as they may provide a viable alternative for those seeking available campsites without the same reservation time constraints.
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Have you camped there Eric? Can you give some insight into the park for those considering camping there?
 
Ken & Peggy said:
Have you camped there Eric? Can you give some insight into the park for those considering camping there?
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Moss Park is part of the Orange County Parks SE of Orlando. You can only reserve within 45 days of your stay. Moss has 30 sites which are mostly wooded and large. Each offers electricity and water. Orange County has 5 other County Parks for camping. I highly recommend Trimble Park near Mount Dora and Kelly Park near Rock Springs.
 
Van_and_Terri said:
Moss Park is part of the Orange County Parks SE of Orlando. You can only reserve within 45 days of your stay. Moss has 30 sites which are mostly wooded and large. Each offers electricity and water. Orange County has 5 other County Parks for camping. I highly recommend Trimble Park near Mount Dora and Kelly Park near Rock Springs.
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Thanks guys.
 
The article makes some points similar to the Canadian fire fighter and your link to the Yellowstone Fire, that was the historical tipping point in fire and forest management.

"Forest Management

According to McKitrick, the increased size and intensity of wildfires can be attributed to the accumulation of fuel caused by the alteration of forest management practices in Canada and the United States in the 1980s. During that time, he said, governments began to limit the number of interventions people could do to remove fuel loads from the forest, which led to the accumulation of more flammable, dry debris.
“The suppression of forest management has meant much larger fuel loads in a lot of forests now, so we do expect to see that when forest fires break out, they can become unmanageable much more quickly,” he said.
Controlled burns, or prescribed fires, reduce hazardous fuels and help mitigate the intensity of wildfires.
Mark Heathcott, a fire expert who managed Parks Canada’s controlled burns for more than 20 years, told Maclean’s in 2016 that Canada was behind the United States in terms of controlled fires."


EpochTimes is one of those digital papers that gives a certain number of free reads without a paid subscription.

I use a burner email, from a free email service like protonmail dot com. And send anything unwanted later from marketers who buy emails to the junk folder.

I also use Brave browser to cut down on ads, trackers, pop-ups etc.
 
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Tour 931 said:
I can’t read it without giving my email address.
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Hack: If your browser has "reader" mode which removes the extranious frames. Which also clobbers the paywall ... sometimes. ET is a good news site to hear a sides of the stories not represented in the lamestream media. I enjoy their content, and one that I do subscribe too. I use a 'spam catch all' email for all such paywalls...
 
Mods feel free to slap me if I stray too far into "politics" but this link is another useful take on wildfires that covers forest management and media hype/narrative that detracts from facts.

Authorities Arrest Democrat Donor for California Wildfire Blamed on 'Climate Crisis'

Having lived thru a couple big ones* in CA that literally started in the foothills and burned 50 miles west almost to the coast, narrowly missing our suburban home on either side,

I've since done some deep dives beyond emergency prep into the underlying forest management issues that are evolving past science into...well. I'll leave it at that.

Main thing i note and love about this forum is how knowledgeable the readership is about the outdoors, and in our love for getting out in it, plus shared tips on how to be careful about weather etc: (thinking about Mikes story about the campground flash flooded and people lost due poor comms/failure to check NOAA weather on shortwave.)

* campfire story for later about how my son and I barely beat the road closures on the beginnings of Cedar Fire in 2003 while driving back from the desert.

Cedar Fire - Wikipedia

We could see the flames on ridges trees bent over sprouting burning brands skipping ahead and sprouting new fires a mile ahead in the 50mph Santa Ana winds that are typical for that time of year...
 
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